Betsy  Gaskins 


BETSY    GASKINS  ( Dimi- 

crat),  Wife  of  Jobe  Gaskins 
(Republican)  *  *  «#  Or,  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  Up  to  ' 


By.... 

W.   I.    HOOD 


With  Illustrations 
from  Original  Draw- 
ings by  C.  B.  FALLS 


And  an  Appendix 
Edited  by  K.  L. 
ARMSTRONG 


CHICAGO: 

THE  W  ABASH  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 

No.  324  Dearborn  Street 


COPYRIGHT,  1897, 
BY   W.    I.  HOODc 

All  rights  reserved. 


NOTICE. — The  illustrations  in  this  work  are  engraved  from  original  draw- 
ings from  life,  and  their  reproduction,  except  by  special  permission  from 
the  publishers,  is  prohibited. 


BETSY    GASKINS. 


JOBE  GASKINS. 


PREFACE. 

I  HIS  book  is  written  for  a  purpose. 
It  is  founded    upon    actual    occur- 
rences.    Betsy    and    Jobe    Gaskins 
are  characters  well    known    to    you, 
if  you  will  but  reflect  upon  events 
coming  under  your  own  observation 
within  the  past  few  years. 

The  author  claims  no  inspiration 
or  gift  of  genius.  This  is  only  a 
simple  statement  of  facts  deserving 

the  consideration  of  every  intelligent  human  being.  While 
you  read  these  pages,  if  you  will  permit  your  intelligence  to 
assert  itself  over  your  prejudices,  and  if  finally  you  will 
do  that  which  the  nobler  instincts  of  man  prompt  you  to 
do  toward  bringing  about  a  better  condition  of  things  under 
the  government  of  which  you  are  a  part,  the  author  will  be 
fully  repaid  for  his  labor.  He  asks  you  only  to  keep  in 
mind  at  all  times  that  Jobe  Gaskins  is  your  brother  ;  that 
Betsy  Gaskins  is  your  sister.  W.  I.  HOOD. 

New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  April  24,  1897. 


171 1-133 


OD,  by  giving  to  man  wants  and  making  his 
recourse  to  work  necessary  to  supply  them,  has 
made  the  right  to  work  the  property  of  every 

man  ;  and  this  property  is  the  first,   the  most  sacred,  the 

most  imprescriptible  of  all." — Turgot. 


£4  r~T^HE  right  to  work  is  the  right  to  worship.  The 
clink  of  the  anvil  and  the  hum  of  the  harvest 
field,  the  music  of  the  poet  and  the  meditations 

of  the  inventor  are  chords  in  the  anthem  of  creation," — 

Henry  D.  Lloyd. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Jobe  Sets  and  Studies 15 

II.  An  Argument  on  the  Money  Question 22 

III.  Jobe  Sleeps  in  the  Spare  Bed.     The  Dream     ....  27 

IV.  "The  Comers" .-     .     .     .  38 

V.  Jobe  Must  Raise  $2, 100 43 

VI.  Betty,  the  Drivin'  Animal                            , 49 

VII.  They  Drive  Old  Tom 53 

VIII.  Another  Letter  from  Richer 61 

IX.  A  Few  Reasons  by  Betsy 65 

X.  Is  there  a  Woman  in  the  Barn 69 

XI.  "In  Town " 73 

XII.  The  Decision 78 

XIII.  Jobe  Cheers  Up 84 

XIV.  A  New    Mortgage 89 

XV.  Jobe,  Out  of  Trouble,   is  Unruly  Again 93 

XVI.  Jobe  is  Scared 97 

XVII.  Jobe  Sleeps  in  the  Barn? 104 

XVIII.  The   Spittoons ill 

XIX.  A  Big-headed  Man ' 118 

XX.  Bonds  Sell  Well 121 

XXI.  The  Sermon 124 

XXII.  Jobe  Working  to  Raise  the  Officers'   Salaries     ....  128 

XXIII.  Plan  to  Relieve  the   Rich  of  an    Expense 132 

XXIV.  Them  Promises 138 

XXV.  Jobe   Excited  Over   n   Nomination .  141 

XXVI.  The  Bloomers 145 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  HAUE 

XXVII.  "Them  Populists." 149 

XXVIII.  Trouble  with  Billot 155 

XXIX.  "Inforcin  the  Law  agin  Billot"     .      .           158 

XXX.  Betsy    Discusses  "Fiat"   Money .     .  166 

XXXI.  Jobe  Blows  a  Fish-horn 180 

XXXII.  At  Court  Again 185 

XXXIII.  Judgment    Rendered 189 

XXXIV.  The  Little  White  Rose-bush 195 

XXXV.  Jobe  Talks   of    Things    that   Are  Gone 200 

XXXVI.  Bill  Bowers    on    the  Fence 202 

XXXVII.  Betsy  Faints.     A  Vision 207 

XXXVIII.  The  Parting 211 

XXXIX.  The  Preacher  and  the  Saloonkeeper 216 

XL.  Them  Rooms.     The  Director  of   Charities 228 

XLI.  A  Sore    Hand 235 

XLII.  Hattie  Moore 244 

XLIII.  A  Family  Reunion 249 

XLIV.  After  the  Woe,   then  Comes  the  Law 256 


PART  II. 


I.  The  Impending  Revolution 277 

II.  The  Philosophy  of  Money 283 

III.  A  Bird's-eye  View  of  American   Financial  History  ....  307 

IV.  The  Eight  Money  Conspiracies 345 

V.  Financial  Authorities 352 

VI.  Interest  and  Usury 380 

VII.  Debt  and  Slavery 387 


VIII.     The  Laws  of   Property 393 

IX.     Direct  Legislation 401 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


1.  "That  every  star   was  an  eye  looking  down  on  me  with   pity." 

(Frontispiece.) 

2.  Character  title. 

PAGE 

3.  Betsy    Gaskins  ...........................................  7 

4.  Initial  T  ................................................  1  1 

5.  Jobe  Gaskins  .................  ,  ..........................  13 

6.  Initial   M  ................................................  15 

7.  "We  both  hankered"  ...................................  17 

8.  "I  did  git  him  started  to  readin  "  ........................  19 

9.  "That  canderdate  feller  "  ................................  20 

10.  Tailpiece  ...............................................  21 

11.  "  Me  a  knittin,  him  a  settin  and  studyin  "  .................  23 

12.  "  'Talkin  like  them  blame  Populists'  "  ......................  26 

13.  "  I  waked  not  until  broad  daylite  "  ........................  28 

14.  "  '  Feedin  —  feedin,  of  course,"  says  he  "  ....................  29 

15.  "  «  Do  you  promis?  '  says  I,  girlish  like  "  .....    ............  30 

16.  "I  sot  down,  lookin  him  square  in  the  face  "  .............  31 

17.  Bill  Bowers  .......................  .......................  32 

18.  Ornamental  tailpiece  ......................................  37 

19.  "  'Ide  vote    the    Dimicrat   ticket   at   the    very   next    township 

election  "  ........................................  39 

20.  "They  waked  me  up  at  the  dead  hour  of  miclnite"  ........  41 

21.  "That  very  sheet  of  paper  "  ...............................  45 

22.  Congressman  Richer  ......................................  46 

23.  "Jobe  works  and  sweats  "  .................................  47 

24.  Ornamental  tailpiece  .....................................  48 

25.  "Jobe  and  me  both  sot  down  and  cried  "  ....................  50 

26.  "  Started  for  town  bright  and  airly"  ........................  54 

27.  "Jobe  and  me  counted  up  how  much  we  had  "  ..............  57 

28.  "That  nite  I  put  another  patch  on  his  pants  "  ................  62 

29.  "  He  explained   to  Mr.  Jones"  .......  ,  .....................  63 


x  i ;  /  /.V  7 '  OJ-  II.  1.  (  'S  7  'A'.  I  7 '/( WS. 

30.  Ornamental  tailpiece  .  , 64 

3 1 .  Ornamental  tailpiece 68 

32.  "  Peekin  through  a  crack  " 70 

33.  "  Jist  a  layin  it  off  with  his  hands  " 71 

34.  "  '  Mistur  Court,  Gaskins  is  here  '  " 74 

35.  "  '  I  'bject '  " 76 

36.  "  'I  want  to  prove  to  you,  Mistur  Judge '  " 79 

37.  "  '  This  is  the  law,  whether  it  is  justice  or  not  " 81 

38.  "  Jobe  and  me  sot  there  dazed  like  " 82 

39.  Aunt  Jane 84 

40.  "  He  would  call  him  '  Billy,'  in  honor  of  the  next  president  "  . .  85 

41.  "  Before  Jobe  could  git  up,  William  hit  him  agin  " 86 

42.  Ornamental  tailpiece 88 

43.  "  He  would   rather  pay  seven  per  cent,  than  six,  in  order  to 

support  a  sound  money  basis  " 90 

44.  "  '  Law  or  no  law,'  says  I  " 91 

45.  "'Payin    it   in    gold    to   keep   your  party  in  power  is  up-hill 

bizness  '  " 92 

46.  "  '  John  Sherman  is  the  greatest  financier  on  airth'  " 95 

47.  Ornamental  tailpiece 96 

48.  "  '  Now,  Betsy,  you  see  what  kind  of  a  party  you  belong  to '  " . .  98 

49.  "  So  I  weni  to  work  and  cut  out  the  headin  " 100 

50.  "  '  It  is  all  over,  Betsy,'  says  he  " 101 

51.  "That  nite  he  slept  in  the  barn  " 103 

52.  "  'Jobe  Gaskins,  you  make  another  move  ! '  " 105 

53.  "  '  Are  you  mad,  Betsy? '  says  he  " 108 

54.  "Jobe  was  on  his  knees  in  the  middle  of  the  bed  " 113 

55.  "A  strait,  influential,  leadin  Republican  officeholder" 115 

56.  "  Lots  of  fellers  jist  like  him  " 1 16 

57.  "Jobe  he  flew  up  " 119 

58.  "It  wasent  anything  onusual  for  a  county  officer  to  make  all  he 

could  "  . . . 1 20 

59.  "  '  Hadent   we    all  ort    to   be    satisfied    so  long   as   bonds  sell 

well  ?  '  " 121 

60.  "  'Times  are  never  hard  under  a  gold  basis,'  Jobe  says" 122 

61.  "They  whispered   and   snickered   at  my  straw  hat  and  Jobe's 

linen  coat  " 125 

62.  "  He  said  the  rich  all  belong  to  church  " 126 

63.  Harvesting 129 

64.  "I  was  puttin  salve  on  Jobe's  hands " 130 

65.  The  hand  that  voted  "the  strait  ticket" 131 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  xiii 

66.  "Some  good  men  in  case  of  labor  trouble" 133 

67.  "  Some  of  the  little  children  are  pretty  " 136 

68.  "  Jobe  took  what  hay  he  could  spare  " 138 

69.  "They  are  kept  so  busy  legislatin  " 139 

70.  "A  huntin  them  overhalls "    142 

71.  "I  had  sot  down  and  went  to  churnin  " 143 

7_>.      "  The  Dimicratic  bloomers'" 146 

73.  "'  Hello,  mistur'  " 147 

74.  "  <VVe  ketch  em  a  comin  and  we  ketch  em  a  goin  '  " 148 

75.  "I  seen  him  a  comin  up  the  lane  " 151 

76.  "The  fust  time  for  nigh  onto  twenty  years  " 153 

77.  "  Billot  jist  laughed  at  him  " 155 

78.  "Jobe  he  got  mad  and  called  Billot  a  Populist '" 156 

79.  Ornamental  tailpiece — sunset 157 

80.  "  Lawyers  a  talkin  and  a  laffin  " 159 

81.  "  'Mistur  Moore,  how  long  has  it  been  since  you  quit  advocatin 

the  use  of  good,  old-fashioned  greenbacks?  '  " 161 

S2.      "  '  Lawyer — Dimicratic  lawyer  and  polertician  '  " 164 

83.  "  He  carried  a  banner  " 167 

84.  "I  got  a  straw  and  tickled  his  nose  " 171 

85.  Ornamental  tailpiece 179 

86.  "It  was  nearly  mornin  when  I  heerd  the  patriotic  sounds  of  the 

fish-horn  " 181 

87.  ••  He  looked  kind  a  pale  " 182 

88.  "  '  Give  us  a  tune,  Jobe  " 183 

89.  "  'This  is  not  accordin  to  contract  '  " 184 

90.  "  We  hitched  in  front  of  Urfer's  big  dry  goods  store  " 186 

91.  "  '  Ready  '  " 187 

92.  "  '  I  am  a  banker,  sir,  a  banker  '  " 190 

93.  "  He    made   sich   a    fine    argament    for   gold    and    agin    other 

money  " 193 

94.  Little  Jane 196 

95.  "I  could  nearly  see  her  little  dimpled  fingers  pattin  the  airth 

around  the  roots  of  that  little  bush  '' 197 

96.  "  '  Mamma,    .    .    .   how  pritty! '  " 198 

97.  Ornamental  tailpiece 199 

98.  "Jobe  jist  lays  and  moans" 200 

99.  "I  have  to  chop  all  the  wood  " 201 

100.  "  'Out  with  it,  Bill ;  we  are  prepared  for  the  wust '" 203 

101.  -''He    tell    you,   Betsy.     Ive   made   up  my   mind    to    try   them 

Populists  hereafter  '  " 205 


xiv  ,  LIS'J'   OJ-'  J/.LL'S'J' 

102.  "  '  O,  Lord,  is  there  no  other  way  to  do  ?  '  " 209 

103.  "  He  drawed  me  over  in  his  arms  and  kissed  me  " 212 

104.  "  He  was  wipin  his  eyes  and  blowin  his  nose  as  he  went  towards 

town  " 213 

105.  "Then  sot  down  and  cried   and   kept   a  cryin   every   little  bit 

all  mornin  " 214 

106.  "They  pulled  me  away  from  the  winder  " 218 

107.  "At  all  the  gates  around  the  big  fence  they  had  signs  stuck  up  "  221 

108.  "I  asked  him  for  something  to  eat  " 222 

109.  "  '  Well,  old  man,  sich  things  hadent  ort  to  be  '  " 225 

no.     "I  slipped  over  and  put  my  face  agin  the  glass  " 229 

in.     " The  feller  turned  around  and  looked  black  at  me  " 23;! 

U2.     "I  have  to  work  hard  in  this  place  " 236 

113.  "One  nice  little  place  that  I  thought  I  would  rent  as  soon  as  I 

got  my  first  week's  pay  " 239 

1 14.  "  I  worked  there  three  weeks  " 241 

115.  Everything  was  cold  and  dark  " 242 

1 16.  Initial  M — Hattie  Moore 244 

117.  He  teched  me  on  the  shoulder" 247 

1 18.  "  I  got  onto  a  freight  train  " 248 

119.  "Pushing  back  the  hair  of  the  sick  woman,   leaned  over  and 

kissed  her  on  the  forehead  '' 250 

120.  "There  lay  Mrs.  Gaskins  " 252 

121.  "There  again  was  the  face  of  that  little  girl  and  the  face  of  an 

old  man  " 253 

122.  "  In  the  morning  there  was  found  a  white-haired  man  " 254 

123.  Tailpiece — the  rose-bush  on  the  grave 255 

124.  Initial  B — the  editor 256 

125.  "Behold!     See  that  money! '' 265 

216.     Tailpiece 271 

i  27.     The  world's  oppressor. 274 


Betsy  Gaskins 


(  DIMICRAT). 


CHAPTER  1. 

JOBE    SETS    AND    STUDIES. 

ISTUR  EDITURE:— My  name 
is  Betsy  Gaskins.      I  was  born 
a   Dimicrat.      My  father   was  a 
Dimicrat  and  my  mother  dident 
dare  to  be  anything   else — 
—   out  loud. 

|j^      Our   family,  thus,  was  of 
one  mind,   perlitically,  until 
Jobe  Gaskins  begin  to  come  to  see  me. 

I  was  a  young  woman  of  nineteen  summers,  as  the  poit 
would  say. 

Jobe  he  was  a  Republican  and  -'didn't  keer  who 
knowed  it. " 

My  folks  opposed  Jobe  on  perlitical  grounds. 
Jobe   he  opposed  my    folks  on   the  same  grounds,   but 
hankered  arter  me,  though   he  knode   I  was  a  "  Dimicrat 
dide  in  the  wool.  " 

And  I  must  say  I  hankered  arter  Jobe,  though  I  knode 
he  was  a  rank  Republican.  On  that  one  pint  we  agreed  : 
\vr  both  hankered. 

Well,  the  time  come  when  Jobe  and  me  decided  to  lay 
aside  our  perlitical  feelins  and  git  married. 

This  our  folks  opposed,  but  we  "slid  out"  one  day,  and 
the  preacher  united  the  two  old  parties,  as  far  as  Jobe  and 

15 


16  BETSY  GASK1NS,  Dl MIC  RAT. 

me  was  concerned,  though  I  was  still  a  Dimicrat,  and 
Jobe  he  was  still  a  Republican. 

Like  the  two  great  perlitical  parties  at  Washington,  when 
they  want  to  make  a  law  to  suit  Wall  Street,  Jobe  and  me 
decided  to  pull  together  on  the  question  of  gittin  married. 

We  have  lived  together  for  nigh  onto  thirty-five  years, 
and  durin  all  that  time  Jobe  has  let  me  be  a  Dimicrat,  and 
Ive  let  him  be  a  Republican.  It  has  never  caused  any 
family  disturbance  nor  never  will,  so  long  as  I  be  a  Dimicrat 
and  let  Jobe  be  a  Republican. 

We  have  no  children  livin.  Our  little  Jane  was  taken 
from  us  just  arter  her  seventh  birthday.  Since  then  we 
have  been  left  alone  together,  jist  as  we  was  before  little 
Jane  was  born.  It  is  awful  lonesome,  and  as  we  grow 
older,  lonesomer  it  gits.  Sometimes,  when  I  git  my  work 
all  done  and  have  nothin  to  okepy  my  mind,  I  git  that 
lonesome,  I  hardly  know  what  to  do.  Of  late  years  I  read 
a  great  deal  to  pass  away  the  time. 

Jobe  he  hardly  ever  reads  any,  not  because  he  cant, — 
Jobe  is  a  good  reader, — but  it  seems  the  poor  man  works 
so  hard,  and  has  so  much  to  trouble  him,  that  he  would  jist 
rather  set  and  study  than  to  read. 

When  he  gits  his  day's  work  done  and  his  feedin,  and 
waterin,  and  choppin  of  wood,  he  jist  seems  to  enjoy  settin 
and  studyin. 

I  hardly  ever  disturb  him  when  he  is  at  it.  I  jist  set  and 
read  or  set  and  knit,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  let  Jobe  set 
and  study. 

I  did  git  him  started  to  readin  a  couple  of  years  back.  I 
had  signed  for  a  paper  that  said  a  good  deal  about  the 
Alliance  and  the  Grange  and  sich,  and  Jobe  he  read  it 
every  week,  and  got  so  interested  that  he  would  talk  on  the 
things  he  read  about  to  me  and  to  the  neighbors.  He  got 
nearly  over  his  settin  and  studyin  and  seemed  in  better 


WK    BOTH    KANKRBBD." 


jg  BETSY  GASXJNS,  DIMICRAT. 

spirits  so  long  as  he  kept  a  readin  of  that  paper.  But  one 
day  a  feller,  who  was  a  Republican  canderdate  for  a  county 
office,  came  to  our  house  for  dinner  (they  allers  make  it 
here  about  dinner-time,  them  canderdate  fellers  do). 

Well,  arter  dinner,  Jobe  and  that  feller  went  into  the 
front  room,  and  the  feller  gin  Jobe  a  segar  (a  regular  five- 
center,  Jobe  said),  and  then  they  set  and  smoked,  smoked 
and  talked,  talked  about  the  prospect  of  their  party  carryin 
the  county,  the  feller  doin  all  the  talkin,  until  at  last  Jobe 
told  him  that  he  "had  been  readin  some  of  the  principles 
of  the  People's  party  and  liked  em  purty  well." 

The  feller  reared  back,  opened  his  eyes,  looked  at  Jobe 
from  head  to  foot,  and  then  indignant  like  says,  says  he  to 
Jobe  : 

"I  am  astonished! — astonished  to  think  that  Jobe 
Gaskins,  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  most  prominent  and 
influential  Republicans  in  this  township,  should  read  sich 
trash,  much  less  indorse  it." 

And  from  that  day  to  this  Jobe  Gaskins,  my  dear 
husband,  has  quit  his  readin  and  gone  back  to  his  settin 
and  studyin. 

His  party  principles  was  teched.  The  argament  of  that 
canderdate  feller  was  unanswerable ;  it  sunk  deep  into 
Jobe's  boozim,  and  from  the  time  that  that  feller  thanked 
Jobe  for  his  dinner  and  hoss  feed,  and  invited  Jobe  and  me 
both  to  come  into  his  office  and  see  him,  if  he  was  elected, 
to  this  writin,  I  have  not  had  the  pleasure  of  talkin  with 
my  husband  as  before. 

That  feller  robbed  me  of  all  the  bliss  I  enjoyed  of  havin 
my  pardner  in  life  to  talk  with  of  evenins.  And  all  1  got 
for  bein  thus  robbed,  and  for  tlie  dinner  and  hoss  feed  he  et, 
was  a  invitation  to  see  him  okepy  the  high  position  of 
county  officer — as  though  that  would  pay  for  vittles  or 
satisfy  an  achin  void,  caused  by  him  a  turnin  Jobe  from 


JOBE  SETS  AXD  STUDIES. 


"I  did  git  him  started  to  readin." 

his  readin  to  his  settin  and  studyin.  What  good  would  it 
do  me  to  see  him  okepyin  a  county  office  and  drawin  of  a 
big  salary?  Yes,  drawin  of  a  big  salary  that  poor  Jobe  has 
to  work  his  lites  out  of  him  to  help  pay.  All  that  there  can- 
derdate  feller  cares  for  Jobe  remainin  to  be  a  Republican 
is  so  that  he,  and  sich  fellers  like  him,  will  continer  to 
vote  for  him  and  his  likes,  and  pay  the  high  taxes  out  of 
which  they  git  their  big  salaries.  What  do  they  care  for 
poor  old  Jobe  Gaskins,  whether  he  be  a  Republican  or  a 


BETSY  GASKINS,  D1MICRAT. 


Dimicrat  or  a  Populist  or  one  of 
them  wild  Anacrists,  if  it  were  not 
that  he  had  a  vote  and  they  want 
to  keep  him  in  line?  What  keer 
they  what  papers  he  reads,  or  how 
quick  he  changes  his  polerticks,  if 
they  dident  want  to  git  office  and 
draw  a  big  salary? 

Say  anything  to  Jobe  about  this 
and  he  will  flare  up  and  tell  you  he 
"doesent  intend  to  lose  the  respect 
of  all  the  leadin  men  in  the  county 
by  changing  his  perlitical  views." 
He  dont  stop  to  ask  hisself, 
"Who  is  the  leadin  men?"  He 
dont  stop  to  ask  hisself  how  much 
taxes  and  interest  and  sich  he  con- 
tributes to  make  them  the  leadin 
men.  Contributes  it  to  support 
them  and  their  families  in  style 
sich  as  becomes  leadin  people. 

Yes,  to  support  their  families,  I  said,  so  that  their  wives 
and  their  girls  can  wear  fine  silks  and  satins,  while  I  must 
git  along  with  a  brown  caliker  or  gray  cambric  dress  at 
best. 

Jobe  and  his  likes  earns  the  money  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brows,  and  them  canderdate  fellers  and  their  likes  spends 
it  in  high  livin  and  makin  theirselves  leadin  citizens.  And 
then  they  are  astonished  to  hear  of  one  of  their  regular 
voters  a  readin  anything  that  says  that  sich  men  as  Jobe 
Gaskins  and  his  wife  Betsy,  if  you  please,  are  jist  as 
respectable,  jist  as  leadin  citizens,  as  any  county  officer  or 
polertician  and  their  wives.  Yes,  it  astonishes  them  to 
hear  of  his  readin  a  paper  that  says  that  the  farmers  have 


That  canderdate  feller.' 


JOSE  SETS  AA'D  STUDIES. 


21 


jist  as  intelligent,  honest  and  patriotic  people  among  them 
as  the  leadin  citizens  have.  Now  I  read  sich  "trash,"  as 
the  canderdate  feller  calls  it,  and  I  dont  keer  who  knows 
it,  though  Ime  a  Dimicrat.  But  as  it  is  gittin  late  and 
milkin  time  is  here,  I  will  close,  promisin  you  more  anon, 
as  it  were. 

BETSY  GASKINS  (Dimicrat), 

Wife  of 
JOBE  GASKINS  (Republican). 


CHAPTER  II. 

AN  ARGUMENT  ON  THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 

THE  anon  is  here.  Last  Tuesday  evenin,  arter  I  had 
milked  and  swept  and  washed  up  the  supper  dishes 
and  done  many  other  things  I  have  to  do  day  in  and 
day  out,  year  in  and  year  out,  arter  Jobe  had  done  his 
waterin  and  feedin  and  choppin  of  wood,  we  both  found 
ourselves  settin  before  the  fire,  me  a  knittin,  him  a  settin 
and  study  in. 

Says  I  to  him,  all  of  a  suddent,  loud  and  quick  like : 

"Jobe,  what  yer  studyin  bout?" 

You  ort  a  seen  him  jump.  He  was  skeert.  I  spoke  so 
suddent  and  quick. 

He  hemmed  and  hawed  a  minit  or  so,  got  up  and  turned 
around,  sat  down,  spit  in  the  fire,  crossed  his  legs,  and 
says,  says  he  : 

"Well,  Betsy,  He  tell  you  what  I  was  a  studyin  about. 
I  was  jist  a  studyin  about  the  mortgage  and  the  interest 
and  the  fust  of  Aprile.  Aprile,  Betsy,  is  nearly  here,  and 
where  is  the  money  a  comin  from  to  pay  the  interest  and 
sich?" 

I  saw  he  was  troubled  ;  but  all  I  could  say  was :  "Well, 
indeed,  Jobe,  I  dont  know." 

And  I  dont. 

It  seemed,  now,  as  I  had  Jobe  started,  waked  up  as  it 
were,  he  wanted  to  talk,  and  I  was  willin  that  he  should, 
even  though  it  wasent  a  very  pleasant  thing  to  talk  about. 

Says  he  :  "Betsy,  I  sometimes  think  we  will  never  git 
our  farm  paid  for.  It  seems  to  be  a  gittin  harder  and 

22 


\RGUI.\'C,    THE   MONEY  QUESTION.  23 


"Me  a  knittin,   him  a  seUin  and  studyin." 

harder  every  year  to  make  payments.  It  has  took  all  we 
raised  to  meet  the  interest  for  the  last  four  years  ;  we  haint 
been  able  to  pay  anything  on  the  mortgage ;  and  this  spring 
I  dont  know  where  we  will  git  the  money  to  pay  even  the 
interest.  It  takes  twice  as  much  wheat,  or  anything  else, 
nearly,  to  git  the  money  to  pay  the  interest  with  as  it  use 
to,  and  crops  haint  any  better.  Besides,  Betsy,  if  I  was  to 
sell  the  farm  to-day,  it  wouldent  bring  much  above  the 
$2, 100  we  owe  on  it.  When  I  bought  it  for  $3,800,  fourteen 
years  ago,  I  thought  it  cheap  enough,  and  it  was  if  times 
hadent  got  so  hard  and  things  we  raise  so  cheap.  Jist  to 
think,  we  have  paid  $1,700  on  the  first  cost,  and  $2,100  in 
interest  besides,  and  if  we  had  to  sell  it  to  pay  the  mort- 
gage we  would  not  have  a  dollar  left.  Congressman  Richer 
could  foreclose  at  any  time  ;  he  could  have  done  so  for  the 
last  three  years — ever  since  I  failed  to  make  the  payments 
on  the  mortgage." 

"Well,  Jobe,"  says  I,    "it  is  bad  enough,  to  say  the 
least." 


24  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

"Yes,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "if  we  cant  meet  the  interest, 
Banker  Jones  tells  me,  we  will  be  sold  out." 

I  was  silent. 

Jobe  continered  :  "I  tell  you,  Betsy,  these  times,  six 
per  cent,  interest  is  hard  to  pay.  It  seems  that,  no  matter 
how  cheap  a  farmer  has  to  sell  what  he  raises,  interest 
dont  get  any  cheaper." 

Thinks  I,  "Now  is  my  time  to  speak." 

"Jobe,"  says  I,  slow  and  deliberate,  lookin  him  square 
in  the  eyes,  "Jobe  Gaskins,  haint  you  a  American  citizen? 
Haint  you  jist  as  good  a  citizen  as  a  banker?  Haint  you 
jist  as  honest?  Haint  you  jist  as  hard-workin?  Haint 
you  got  as  much  rights  in  these  here  United  States?" 

Jobe  was  silent,  but  lookin  straight  at  me,  starin. 

Continerin,  says  I:  "I  was  a  readin  in  my  paper,  the 
other  day,  that  the  banker  borrowed  money  from  this  here 
government  for  one  per  cent.  The  very  money  he  loans 
you  and  your  likes  at  six  and  seven  and  eight  per  cent,  he 
gits  from  this  here  government  for  one  per  cent.  You, 
Jobe  Gaskins,  ort  to  have  jist  as  good  right  to  borrow 
money  from  this  here  government  of  yourn  and  his  as  he 
has,  if  you  give  good  security  and  will  pay  it  back,  and  God 
knows  you  would,  as  honest  as  you  are.  Jist  to  think,  Jobe, 
if  you  could  have  borrowed  the  money  from  the  govern- 
ment to  have  paid  Congressman  Richer  for  his  farm  four- 
teen years  ago,  when  we  bought  it,  at  only  one  per  cent. 
interest,  and  only  paid  back  to  the  government,  at  the 
post-office,  or  some  other  place  appointed,  the  same  as  you 
have  paid  Congressman  Richer  in  payments  and  interest, 
we  to-day  would  have  our  farm  nearly  paid  for  and  be  out 
of  debt,  and  you  wouldent  be  a  settin  and  studyin  about 
the  mortgage  and  interest  and  the  fust  of  Aprile.  Or  even 
if  you  could  borrow  the  money  to-day  from  the  government 
at  two  per  cent.,  you  could  git  the  $2,100,  pay  it  off,  and 


ARGUING  THE  MONEY  QUESTION. 

next  year  only  have  to  raise  $42  interest  instead  of 
Dont  you  see  it  would  be  easier  for  you  to  pay?  And  you 
could  pay  a  little  on  the  mortgage  every  year,  as  hard  as 
times  are?" 

While  I  was  a  sayin  all  this  Jobe  was  a  lookin  at  me, 
a  starin,  turnin  on  his  seat,  spittin  in  the  fire,  crossin  fust 
one  leg,  then  another,  waitin  for  me  to  stop.  I  seen  he 
was  teched ;  so,  when  I  had  done,  I  sot  back  in  my  cheer, 
and  begin  to  knit,  and  waited  for  what  was  a  comin.  He 
begun  slowly,  but  warmed  up  as  he  proceeded.  Says  he  : 

"Betsy,  I  have  lived  with  you  for  nigh  onto  thirty-five 
years;  we  have  allers  lived  in  peace,  though  you  was  a 
Dimicrat  and  I  was  a  Republican ;  we  have  had  our 
sorrows  and  our  hardships,  and  now,  arter  all  these  years 
of  peace,  am  I  to  pass  the  last  days  of  my  life  with  a 
pardner  who  is  allers  talkin  like  them  blamed  Populists? 
You  know,  Betsy  Gaskins,  that  I  am  a  Republican  and 
expect  to  die  one.  I  believe  that  all  the  laws  made  by  the 
Republicans  are  just  laws.  If  they  made  laws  to  lend  the 
banker  money  at  one  per  cent,  it  must  stand,  and  I  will  try 
to  bear  my  burden,  though  I  have  to  pay  six  per  cent, 
interest  or  more,  if  need  be,  for  the  same  money.  Betsy, 
you  must  stop  readin  them  papers.  I  never  look  into  one  ; 
they  jist  start  a  feller  to  thinkin,  and  the  fust  thing  he 
knows  he  dont  believe  a  thing  he  has  been  a  believin  all 
his  life.  It  ruins  a  feller's  perlitical  principles.  If  a  feller 
is  a  Republican,  he  should  be  one  and  never  read  anything 
to  cause  him  to  think.  Them  Populists,  Betsy,  is  jist 
made  up  of  a  lot  of  storekeepers  and  farmers,  and  men 
who  work  in  shops  and  mills  and  coal-banks  and  sich 
places.  They  dont  know  anything  about  makin  laws,  or 
money  or  bizness.  Our  law-makers,  Betsy,  should  be 
lawyers  and  bankers  and  rich  business  men  and  sich." 

Well,  I  jist  saw  it  was  no  use  argyin  with  him,  but  I 


26 


RETSY  GASfCfNS,  D I  MICK  A  7. 


thought  I  would   have  the  last  word,  as   I   allers  do,  and 
says  I  : 

"Well,  Jobe  Gaskins,  if  you  ignorant  farmers  haint  tit 
to  make  the  laws  to  fix  the  taxes  you  pay ;  if  you  farmers 
haint  fit  to  make  the  laws  to  govern  yourselves  ;  if  you 
farmers  haint  fit  to  transact  the  bizm-ss  in  which  you 


"  'Talkin  like  them  blame  Populists'." 


should  be  most  interested,  I  think  you  ort  to  begin  to 
prepare  yourselves  until  you  are  fit,  by  readin  what  hasent 
been  done  for  you  that  ort  to  have  been  done,  and  what 
has  been  done  agin  you  that  hadent  ort  to  been  done." 

At  that,  bein  ready,  I  skipped  into  the  bed-room  and  in 
a  twinkle  was  in  bed  with  the  kivers  drawed  up  over  my 
head.  If  Jobe  said  any  more  I  heard  it  not.  In  a  few 
minits  I  was  asleep,  where  I  must  soon  be  agin. 


CHAPTER    III. 

JOKE    SLEEPS    IN    THE    SPARE    BED.        THE    DREAM. 

THAT  nite   arter   I    had   got  into  bed  and  kivered  up 
my  head,  I  went  to  sleep  and  waked  not  until  broad 
daylite.     Imagine   my   surprise,    when   I  waked,   to 
find  that  durin  all  that  long  nite  I  had  been  the  sole  oke- 
pant  of   that    bed.     The  piller  on  which  Jobe,   my  dear 
husband,  had  slept  for  over  thirty-four  years  had  not  been 
teched  that  nite,  and,  for  the  fust  time  in  thirty-five  years 
next  corn-huskin,  Betsy  Gaskins  had  slept  alone.      I  felt 
skeert.     I  felt  as  though  some  awful  calamity  had  or  would 
occur  to  me. 

With  a  heavy  heart  I  ariz  and  put  on  my  skirts,  all  the 
time  feelin  as  if  I  was  about  to  choke.  Everything  was 
silent  and  still  about  the  house.  Could  it  be  possible  that 
my  dear  Jobe  had  dide  or  been  kidnapped,  or  what?  I 
hurried  into  the  room — no  Jobe  there.  I  went  into  the 
kitchen — no  Jobe  there.  I  hastened  to  the  spare  bed- 
room. The  door  was  closed.  I  stopped.  I  rubbed  my 
hands  together,  studyin  what  to  do,  all  a  trimblin.  Cer- 
tainly the  dead  and  lifeless  corpse  of  my  dear  husband 
was  in  there  cold  in  death,  drivin  to  it  of  course  by  the 
cruel  words  of  his  lovin  wife.  There  I  stood  stock  still, 
not  knowin  what  to  do.  I  must  have  stood  there  some 
three  or  four  minits  until  I  came  to  myself.  All  at  onct 
I  says,  says  I,  out  loud:  "Betsy  Gaskins,  what  are  you 
about?  Haint  you  allers  been  looked  upon  as  a  woman  of 
good  jedgement  and  feerless  in  the  face  of  disaster?"  At 
that  I  marched  up  to  the  door  and  flung  it  open. 


BETSY  G.-ISA'SA'S,  DIMICRAT. 


"I  waked  not  until  broad  daylite." 

Now  what  do  you  suppose  I  found?  Jobe  was  not 
there,  but  that  spare  bed  had  been  okepied  that  very  nite. 
Then  it  was  that  I  realized  that  the  two  old  parties,  as  it 
were,  had  been  divided — divided  for  one  nite  on  the  money 
question.  Yes,  Jobe  Gaskins  and  his  wife  Betsy,  a  Dimi- 
crat  and  Republican,  had  slept  beneath  the  same  roof  and 
in  seperate  beds. 

While  I  stood  there,  contemplatin  what  next  to  do  and 
where  Jobe  might  be,  I  heered  him  come  onto  the  back 
porch.  I  met  him  with  a  smile  as  he  come  into  the 
kitchen. 

Says  I :    "Why,  Jobe,  where  have  you  been?" 

"Feedin — feedin,  of  course,"  says  he;  "  where  do  you 
suppose  Ive  been?"  lookin  at  the  floor  and  walkin 
apast  me. 

Arter  reflection  thinks  I,  "  'Tis  best  to  say  nothin  to  him 
about  the  split  in  the  two  old  parties  until  a  future  date." 
So  I  jist  went  about  it  and  prepared  the  mornin  meal, 
thinkin  all  the  time  of  a  dream  I  had  that  nite,  some  time 
between  bed-time  and  daylite,  while  I  lay  there  all  alone, 
while  the  pardner  of  my  life  okepied  the  spare  bed. 

Well,  while  Jobe  was  partakin  of  his  mornin  repast,  I 


FEEDIN, — FKKDIN,  OF  COURSE,"  SAYS  HP.. 


BETSY  GASKhVS,  DiMICRAT. 


saw  all  the  time  that  he  wanted 
to  say  something.  I  never  said  a 
word  durin  the  whole  meal, 
neither  did  Jobe.  We  jist  set 
and  eat — eat  in  silence. 

When  Jobe  was  done  he  pushed 
back  and  tipped  his  cheer  agin 
the  wall.  I  knode  he  was  a  goin 
to  speak.  He  cleared  his  throat 
like,  and  says,  says  he  : 

"Betsy,    I    dont    want  you  to 
say  any  more  to  me  about  what 
you  read  in   the  newspapers.     I 
am  willin  to  listen  to  anything  else 
under  the  sun,  but   dont  let  me 
hear  any  more  about  them  Popu- 
list ideas.     I   want  to  talk  sense 
to  you,  and  you  to  talk   sense  to 
me.     Now  what  I  want  to  know, 
Betsy,  is,  how  are  we  to  raise  the 
money  to  pay  the  interest  by  the 
fust  of  Aprile?" 
Says  I:     "Land  a   goodness,  Jobe,  how  do    I    know? 
Goodness  knows  I  am  willin  to  do  all  I  kin  to  help  you 
raise  it.     I   had  a  dream  last  nite  ;  if  that  dream  was  true 
I  might  tell  you  how  to  raise  it. " 
I  stopped. 

"Well,"  says  he,  arter  studyin  a  minit,  "what  was  your 
dream?" 

Lookin  at  him  kind  a  girlish  like,  says  I : 
"  Jobe,  I  wont  tell  you  what  it  was  unless  you  make  me 
two  promises." 

Jobe  actually  smiled.      Says  he  : 

"  Go  ahead  ;  what  are  your  promises?" 


"  'Do  you  promis?'  says  I, 
girlish  like." 


JOBE  .SLEETS  IX  7  HE  SPARE  BED. 


"I  sot  down, 


lookin  him  square  in  the  face." 


"Well,"  says  I,  smilin,  "the  fust  promis  is  that  you 
sleep  in  the  same  bed  I  do  to-nite." 

At  that  I  laffed  out  loud.  Jobe  he  did,  too.  Then 
says  I : 

"The  second  promis  is  that  you  will  listen  without 
commentin  until  I  tell  it  all." 

Jobe  he  studied. 

"Do  you  promis?"  says  I,  girlish  like. 

"Yes,  I  promis,"  says  he;  "go  ahead." 

"You  promis  to  sleep  in  the  same  bed  you  have  for 
these  nigh  onto  thirty-five  years?" 

"Yes,  yes,"  says  he,  lookin  half  guilty. 

"And  you  will  listen?"  says  I. 

"Yes,  yes,  He  listen,"  says  he. 

So,  arter  clearin  away  the  dishes  and  scrapin  off  the 
crumbs  for  the  chickens,  and  puttin  some  dish  water  to 
bile,  I  sot  down  on  the  other  side  of  the  table  from  Jobe, 
lookin  him  square  in  the  face.  Says  I  : 

"Well,  Jobe,  we  was  talkin  of  the  mortgage  and  the 
interest  last  nite  when  I  went  to  bed,  and  I  suppose  that 
had  something  to  do  with  me  havin  the  dream,  and  for 
that  reason  I  dont  suppose  there  is  anything  in  the  dream." 

"  Spose  not,"  says  he,  lookin  oneasy  like. 


BETSY  GASfTIXSt  DIMICRAT. 


"  Well,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "I  dreamed 
that  Congressman  Richer  had  de- 
manded his  money,  and  you  had  to 
raise  the  whole  amount  of  the  mort- 
gage or  lose  our  home.  I  thought  you 
and  me  went  down  to  town  and  went 
to  every  bank  to  try  to  borrow  the 
money  with  which  to  pay  the  mort- 
gage. I  thought  every  place  we  went 
we  was  told  that  they  was  not  makin 
any  loans  now,  that  there  was  a 
money  panic  and  they  had  decided 
i  — ~  not  to  make  any  more  loans  for  some 
L  N  t  I  time.  I  thought  we  could  see  great 

V*  7  /     L  piles  of  money  inside  the  wire  fence 

that  seperated  us  from  the  bankers, 
you    know."     At    this    he    nodded. 
"And  I  thought    you   said,   jist    as 
plain  as  I  ever  heard  you  say  anything  : 
"  «Why,  haint  you  got  plenty  of  money?' 
"  'Yes,  yes,  we  have  plenty  of  money,  but  we  are  not 
loaning  any  at  this  time,'  *  says  each  banker,  jist  as  though 
they  had  all  agreed  to  say  the  same  thing. 

"  So  I  thought  we  traveled  and  traveled  and  coaxed  and 
coaxed,  and  we  couldent  git  a  cent,  as  it  were. 

"Finally  I  thought  we  was  agoin  along  the  street,  both 
feelin  sad  and  discouraged,  when  jist  in  front  of  Spring 
Bros.  &  Holsworth's  big  dry  goods  store  who  should  we 
meet  but  Bill  Bowers  of  Sandyville. 

*In  July  and  August,  1893,  during  one  of  the  severest  money  panics  ever 
experienced  in  the  United  States,  many  of  the  banks  not  only  refused  to 
lend  money  on  choice  security  or  to  discount  commercial  paper,  but  in 
many  instances  would  not  permit  persons  to  draw  out  the  money  they  had 
deposited  with  them.  Business  was  paralyzed.  Thousands  of  persons 
were  ruined,  losing  the  accumulations  of  a  lifetime  by  being  unable  to  raise 
money  as  usual  to  meet  obligations  falling  due.  Factories  were  closed  for 


Bill  Bowers. 


JOBE  SLEEPS  L\  THE  SPARE  BED.  33 

"  'Hello,  Gaskins,'  says  he. 

"That  was  the  fust  we  had  seen  of  him.  Our  minds  was 
so  troubled. 

"We  stopped,  and  arter  inquirin  about  the  folks,  and 
the  stock,  and  the  meetin  that  is  goin  on  at  Center  Valley 
school-house,  he  asked  : 

"  'What  are  you  doin  in  town?' 

"And  I  thought  you  up  and  told 'him  about  havin  to  pay 
the  mortgage ;  and  of  our  havin  been  to  every  bank  ;  and 
of  our  havin  been  told  the  same  tale  by  eacli  banker,  and 
then  you  said,  '  I  guess,  Bill,  we  will  have  to  lose  our 
farm.' 

"When  he  up  and  says,  says  he: 

"  'Why,  Gaskins,  haint  you  heerd  it?' 

"  '  Heerd  what?'  says  you. 

"'Why,  haint  you  heerd  of  the  new  law?'  says  he. 
'  Why,  Congress  passed  the  law  yisterday.  I  was  jist  over 
to  the  court-house  and  they  showed  me  the  telegram.' 

"  'Why,  what  law  do  you  mean,  Bill?'  says  you. 

"Then  you  and  Bill  sot  down  on  a  box  and  I  leaned 
agin  the  house,  and  says  Bill  : 

"  'Why,  yisterday,  Jobe,  they  passed  a  law  in  Congress 
authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to,  at  once,  have 
engraved  and  printed  full  legal-tender  paper  money  to  the 
amount  of  ten  dollars  per  capita  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States,  and  that  money  is  to  be  set  apart  only  to  be 
loaned  to  counties  on  county  bonds,  and  the  counties  are 
to  git  it  at  one  per  cent,  interest.  Then  the  county  treas- 

lack  of  funds  to  pay  employes,  and  thousands  of  American  citizens  were 
thrown  out  of  employment.  The  consequent  suffering  among  the  poorer 
classes  throughout  the  nation  was  indescribable.  And  during  all  this  time 
the  banks  of  the  country  held  the  money  of  the  people  and  refused  to  pay 
it  out  even  10  those  to  whom  it  belonged.  Hence  the  question  :  Can  not 
a  better  system  of  financiering  be  devised  than  our  present  banking  system? 
Would  it  not  be  better  to  permit  the  people  to  deposit  their  money  with  our 
county  treasurers? 


34 


BETSY  GA SKINS,  DLMI^RAT. 


urers  are  to  lend  the  money  only  on  first  mortgage  real 
estate  security  to  the  farmers  and  business  men  and 
mechanics,  at  only  two  per  cent,  interest,  and  when  the 
man  that  borrows  it  pays  it  back,  or  any  part  of  it,  the 
amount  of  his  payments  shall  be  credited  on  his  mortgage, 
and  as  fast  as  it  accumulates  in  the  county  treasurer's 
office  he  shall  forward  it  to  Washington  and  git  it  credited 
on  the  county  bond  they  hold.  The  one  per  cent,  the 
government  gits  is  to  pay  for  makin  the  money  and  keepin 
the  books  at  Washington.  The  other  one  per  cent,  that 
the  borrowers  pay  is  to  go  toward  payin  the  county  treas- 
urer's salary  and  clerk  hire.  This  money,  Jobe,  is  as  good 
as  gold,  because  the  government  agrees  to  take  it  for 
postage  stamps  and  internal  revenue  and  duties  on 
imports  and  sich.  All  you  have  to  do,  Jobe,  is  to  go  over 
there  to  that  grand  old  court-house,  give  your  mortgage  to 
the  people  of  the  county,  and  git  your  money  ;  and  after 
this  you  will  only  have  to  pay  two  per  cent,  interest  instead 
of  six  or  seven,  and  you  kin  save  your  farm.' 

"Well,  Jobe,  I  thought  you  and  me  and  Bill  Bowers  all 
went  over  there,  and  sure  enough,  what  Bill  told  us  was 
true.  The  county  treasurer  told  us  that  he  would  put  our 
application  on  file,  and  as  soon  as  they  could  git  the  money 
out  and  here,  possibly  in  thirty  days,  we  could  come  in  and 
git  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  value  of  our  farm  if  we  needed 
that  much. 

"And  while  we  was  standin  there  a  talkin  to  Treasurer 
Hochstetter,  I  heard  George  Weltv  explainin  to  Ed.  Walters 
'  how  nice  it  was  for  a  person  to  be  able  to  give  a  mortgage 
to  the  people  of  the  county  for  money  to  pay  for  a  home, 
and  then  the  county  goin  that  person's  security  and  gittin 
the  money  from  all  the  people  of  the  United  States,'  and 
explainin  that  there  would  always  be  jist  enough  money  to 
do  bizness  on  and  no  more,  since  the  county  would  only 


JOBE  SLEEPS  AV  THE  SPARE  BED.  35 

Borrow  from  the  government  when  some  citizen  of  the 
county  had  use  for  the  money  and  was  willin  to  give  good 
security  and  pay  two  per  cent,  for  it.  And,  Jobe,  I  thought 
you  looked  happier  than  you  have  for  ten  years." 

"Well,  Bet " 

"Hold  on,  Jobe,"  says  I.  "Well,  I  thought  you  and 
me  and  Bill  Bowers  started  up  street,  and  when  we  were 
passin  Jones's  bank  he  called  us  in. 

"Says  he:  'Mr.  Gaskins,  I  guess  we  can  accommodate 
you  with  that  little  matter  you  was  speakin  about  this 
morn ' 

"  'I  dont  want  it  now,'  says  you. 

"  'No,'  says  I. 

"  'Ide  think  not,'  says  Bill  Bowers. 

"  'Well,  but  hold — hold  on,'  says  Jones.  'I — I — we — 
we  will  let  you  have  that  amount  at  four  per  cent.' 

"  'Oh,  no,'  says  you. 

"  'Well,  how  will  three  strike  you?'  says  Jones. 

"  '  I  dont  want  it  at  all,'  says  you. 

"  'Come  on,'  says  I,  and  we  went  on  up  street.  When 
we  passed  the  First  National  Bank,  out  comes  one  of 
the  clerks  a  hollerin,  'Mr.  Gaskins!  Mr.  Gaskins!'  We 
stopped.  He  came  a  runnin  up  and  says  :  'Come  in  now 
and  our  people  will  accommodate  you,'  takin  hold  of  your 
arm  and  startin  back  with  you.  I  thought  I  jist  took  a 
hold  of  your  other  arm  and  says,  says  I  :  'Jobe  Gaskins, 
where  yer  goin?  We  dont  want  any  bank  money  in  sich  a 
panic  as  this.  So  come  on  and  lets  git  out  of  this  panic.' 

"Well,  every  last  bank  we  had  been  to  that  mornin  was 
a  peckin,  and  a  hollerin,  and  a  beckenin  to  us  that  evenin, 
until  we  like  to  a  never  got  out  of  town  and  away  from 
them.  They  jist  seemed  bound  to  lend  you  that  money 
whether  you  wanted  it  or  not.  Something  had  created  a 
panic  among  them — a  panic  to  git  to  lend  you  money. 


3  6  BE7^SY  GAS  KINS,  D I  MIC  RAT. 

Maybe  they  had  heard  of  the  new  law.      I  dont   know." 

Durin  most  of  the  tellin  of  my  dream  Jobe  he  was  leanin 
his  face  in  his  hands,  his  elbows  on  the  table,  eyes  wide 
open,  listenin  as  he  never  did  before. 

When  I  finished,  says  he  : 

"Betsy,  that  will  save  us.  What  a  grand  country  this 
is!"  And  he  got  up  and  walked  across  the  floor.  Comin 
back  and  lookin,  anxious  like,  at  me,  says  he:  "Betsy, 
which  party  did  Bill  say  passed  that  law — the  Dimicrats  or 
the  Republicans?  It  is  grand!  grand!  It  will  save  us. " 
As  he  spoke  he  looked  full  of  joy  and  happiness. 
Answerin,  says  I : 

"  I  think  I  heard  John  Denison  say  it  was  the  Popul " 

I  never  got  to  finish  that  word.  His  fist  came  down  on 
the  table  like  a  thousand  of  bricks.  He  jumped  back  into 
the  middle  of  the  floor,  cracked  his  fists  together,  stamped 
his  foot,  and  says  in  a  loud  voice:  "I  wont!  I  wont!  I 
wont  do  it.  It  can  go  fust.  Bill  Bowers  is  a  dum  fool. 
I  wont!  I  wont!" 

Says  I:  "Why,  Jobe,  what  on  airth  is  the  matter? 
What  ails  you?  What  yer  talkin  about  anyhow?  You 
wont  do  what?" 

Answerin,  says  he,  bringin  his  fists  together  agin : 

"  I  wont  borrow  any  money  from  any  scheme  them  tarnal 
Populists  has  made  into  a  law.  He — He  pay  ten  per  cent, 
interest  fust.  lie  not  lend  my  approval  to  any  law  they 
have  made." 

"Why,  sakes  alive,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "they  haint  made 
any  law.  That  was  jist  a  dream  I  had.  What  ails  you, 
anyhow?" 

At  that  he  stepped  back  a  step  or  two,  lookin  at  me 
vicious  like.  Movin  his  head  up  and  down  in  short  jerks, 
says  he  : 

"  Betsy,  you  must  stop  it.     Stop  it  at  once.      Its  got  you 


JOBE  SLEEPS  IN  THE  SPARE  BED. 


37 


crazy — so  crazy  you  are  dreaniin  about  it.  You  must  stop 
that  readin  or  He  have  you  sent  to  a  lunatic  asylum." 

He  went  out  at  the  door  then,  but  just  as  he  got  out,  in 
time  for  him  to  hear  it,  I  hollered  : 

"  Its  you  and  your  likes  that  ort  to  be  sent  to  a  lunatic 
asylum  for  not  seein  a  thing  that  you  have  to  turn  your 
back  on  to  keep  from  seein." 

This  ended  the  second  "discussion  of  the  financial  situa- 
tion," as  they  say  down  at  Washington.  The  two  old 
parties — Jobe  and  me — are  still  divided ;  but  I  have  one 
promis  he  has  yet  to  fulfill. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"THE  COMERS." 

BILL  BOWERS  has  got  me  into  trouble.    The  Thurs- 
day arter  I  had  my  dream  about  the  money  bizness, 
who  should  ride  up  to  our  gate  and  hitch  but  Bill 
Bowers?     I  had  not  seen  him  for  nigh  onto  two  years, 
except  in  that  dream,  until  he  rid  up  to  that  gate  post. 

No  sooner  did  I  lay  eyes  on  him  than  I  thought  of  our 
meetin  him  that  day  in  town,  right  there  by  Spring 
Brothers'  big  store,  and  of  his  tellin  us  of  the  money  plan, 
and  of  his  goin  with  us  to  the  county  treasurer,  and  of  us 
a  learnin  from  the  county  treasurer  that  in  a  few  days  he 
would  become  the  people's  banker  and  would  lend  money 
to  the  people  on  good  security.  While  he  was  gittin  off 
and  hitchin,  I  remembered  of  his  walkin  with  us  up  apast 
all  the  banks  ;  I  remembered  of  them  refusin  to  lend  us 
any  money  in  the  mornin  ;  of  them  a  peckin  and  a  beckenin, 
a  hollerin  and  a  runnin  arter  us,  wan  tin  to  lend  us  their 
money,  in  the  evenin,  arter  we,  and  they  too,  had  heerd  of 
the  new  law  Congress  had  made  the  day  before — a  law  that 
turned  a  panic  where  we  had  to  beg  for  money,  and  not  git 
it,  to  a  panic  where  they  begged  to  lend  us  money  and  we 
wouldent  borrow  it. 

Yes,  sir,  that  there  dream  all  come  back  to  me  as  plain 
as  day,  Bill  Bowers  and  all,  jist  as  soon  as  I  laid  eyes 
on  him. 

So  it  was  no  more  than  nateral  for  me  to  tell  him  about  it. 
Jobe  not  bein  at  home,  I  had  to  do  the  entertainin.  As 
soon  as  he  got  in  and  got  settled,  I  says  : 

38 


•«  THE  COMERS:^ 


39 


tl/CL 


!Ide  vote  the  Dimicrat  ticket  at  the 
very  next  township  election.'  " 


"  Bill  Bowers,  I  am  glad 
to  see  you.  I  must  tell 
you  my  dream.  Bring 
your  cheer  up  to  the  fire." 
Then  I  jist  up  and  told 
him  that  whole  dream,  and 
he  swollered  every  word 
of  it  without  chawin,  as  it 
were. 

When  I  had  finished  he 
says,  says  he  : 

"Betsy  Gaskins,  if  that 
ere  dream  was  only  enact- 
ed into  a  law,  what  a 
blessin  it  would  be  to  the 
creatures  of  this  world! 
Betsy,  though  I  am  one  of 
the  stanchest  Republicans  in  Sandyville,  if  this  here  Dimi- 
cratic  Congress  would  make  sich  a  law,  Ide  vote  the 
Dimicrat  ticket  at  the  very  next  township  election. 
Betsy,  how  in  the  world  did  you  come  to  dream  sich  a 
dream?" 

Now,  how  do  I  know  how  I  come  to  dream  any  particular 
dream?  I  went  to  bed  and  went  to  sleep,  jist  as  I  had 
done  for  nigh  onto  thirty-five  years,  exceptin,  of  course, 
Jobe  slept  in  the  spare  bed  and  me  alone.  But  would  I 
tell  Bill  Bowers  of  that  split  in  the  two  old  parties,  as  it 
were,  and  have  him  tell  all  over  creation  that  Jobe  Gaskins 
and  his  wife  Betsy  had  quit  sleepin  together?  No.  Ide 
die  fust.  So  I  jist  says : 

"Well,  Bill,  indeed  I  dont  know  how  I  come  to  dream  it." 
And  I  dont. 

Well,  my  tellin  of  Bill  Bowers  that  ere  dream  is  causin 
me  no  ends  of  trouble.  Ime  jist  worried  and  hounded 


4o  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

about  by  this  and  that  one,  to  have  me  tell  em  about  that 
dream,  until  I  hardly  git  time  to  breathe. 

Bill  Bowers  he  jist  went,  and  from  the  time  he  left  our 
house  until  now  he  has  been  a  tellin  of  my  dream  to  every 
one  he  meets.  And  it  seems  he  is  a  keepin  a  tellin  it,  the 
way  people  has  been  flockin  here  and  keep  a  flockin.  Jake 
Cribbs,  and  Joe  Born,  and  Curt  Hill,  and  Bill  Loyd,  and 
Jim  Rankin  and  Mag  his  wife,  and  the  Minnings,  and  the 
Bateses,  and  the  Hances,  and  goodness  only  knows  who 
all  has  been  here  to  know  more  about  my  dream!  And 
how  1  come  to  have  it;  and  what  Ime  a  goin  to  do  about  it ; 
and  why  I  dont  git  it  published  ;  and  why  I  dont  send  it 
to  Congress  ;  and  why  I  dont  do  this  and  do  that! 

And  some  of  em  say  they  have  it  goin  that  the  law  is 
made — that  Bill  Bowers  told  Tom  Osborne,  and  Tom 
Osborne  told  Doc  Hendershot,  and  Doc  Hendershot  told 
Lucy  Joss,  and  Lucy  Joss  told  somebody  else,  that  Betsy 
Gaskins  said  there  was  sich  a  law  passed,  and  they  come 
from  fur  and  near  to  know  what  paper  I  read  it  in?  or 
how  I  heerd  it?  or  if  Ime  certain  I  had  it?  &c.  &c.,  and  a 
thousand  and  one  other  things,  until  Ime  sick  and  tired  of  it. 

Last  night  they  even  waked  me  up  at  the  dead  hour  of 
midnite — Ellic  Shank  and  Lew  Zimmerman  and  Dan 
Hochstetter  did — to  hear  me  tell  em  more  about  it.  And 
Jobe  he's  nearly  destracted.  The  poor  man  is  jist  run  as 
hard  as  I  be,  though  he  had  nothin  to  do  with  dreamin  of 
that  dream,  onless  his  not  a  sleepin  with  me  that  nite 
caused  it. 

What  to  do  to  git  rid  of  all  this  questionin  and  answerin, 
this  comin  and  a  goin,  I  dont  know.  If  they  would  go  to 
readin,  and  thinkin,  and  a  reasonin  with  themselves,  they 
might  have  some  dreams  of  their  own — yes,  have  dreams 
with  their  eyes  open.  If  these  very  people,  men  and 
women,  who  are  worryin  the  life  out  of  me,  would  go  to 


"THEY   WAKKD   MR   UP   AT   THE   PEAD   HOUR    OF   MIDNITK 


42  BETSY  GASKINS,  D1M1CRAT. 

readin  of  papers  whose  mouths  haint  shut  by  the  public 
printin  they  git  or  hope  to  git ;  if  they  would  go  to  readin 
papers  that  haint  got  some  polertician's  hand  around  their 
throat — I  say  if  these  very  people  would  read  papers  whose 
editures  haint  afraid  to  speak  the  truth  when  they  see  it ; 
haint  afraid  to  condem  the  wrong  wherever  they  find  it — I 
say,  if  they  would  read  sich  papers  and  sich  books,  they 
would  dream  dreams  they  never  dreamed  of  dreamin 
before.  I  think  they  would  begin  to  see  that  the  Dimicrat 
pays  the  same  rate  of  tax  as  the  Republican  pays,  and 
vicey  versy. 

They  would  see  that,  no  matter  what  is  the  polerticks  of 
the  office-holder,  the  voter  has  to  pay  the  taxes  out  of 
which  the  feller  draws  a  salary. 

They  would  see  that  by  reducin  or  increasin  salaries 
their  taxes  are  made  high  or  low,  as  the  case  may  be. 

When  they  begin  to  see  these  things,  I  think  they  will 
begin  to  see  that  so  far  as  they  are  concerned  it  dont  make 
any  difference  to  them  which  ticket  they  vote  ;  that  the 
feller  most  interested  in  their  vote  is  the  canderdate  feller 
who  is  wantin  to  draw  the  salary. 

Does  a  feller  have  to  go  to  sleep  to  dream  that  holdin 
office  is  the  best  payin  bizness  in  the  country? 

Does  a  feller  have  to  go  to  sleep  to  dream  that  the 
salaries  of  all  officeholders  are  too  high,  and  that  the 
foreigner  dont  pay  the  taxes  out  of  which  these  salaries 
are  paid? 

Does  a  feller  have  to  go  to  sleep  to  dream  that  all  public 
expense  ort  to  be  cut  down  and  kept  cut  down? 

These  are  some  of  the  dreams  that  the  dreamless  people 
would  dream  if  they  would  go  to  readin  of  papers  and 
books  that  Jobe  and  his  likes  would  have  me  sent  to  the 
lunatic  asylum  for  readin.  (Here  is  another  comer.  I  must 
quit.) 


CHAPTER  V. 

JOBE    MUST    RAISE    $2,  IOO. 

MY  heart  is  heavy.  Poor  Jobe  is  nearly  destracted. 
Our  home  is  in  jeopardy.  Congressman  Richer 
must  have  his  money.  He  must  have  it  by  Aprile 
fust.  Poor  feller,  he  too  is  in  bad  straits ;  his  gittin 
defeated  last  fall  upset  his  calkerlations. 

And  jist  to  think,  Jobe  voted  agin  him  ;  helped  to  defeat 
him,  as  it  were.  But  Mistur  Richer  holds  no  spite  agin 
Jobe  for  that.  He  was  a  Dimicrat,  and  he  knew  Jobe  was 
a  strait  Republican. 

Such  things  will  happen  to  any  feller  runnin  for  office  ; 
somebody  has  to  be  defeated.  They  all  cant  hold  office. 
I  wish  he  had  been  elected  agin,  and  so  does  Jobe.  Jobe 
wishes  it,  though  he  is  a  Republican  and  voted  agin  him. 

Poor  Mistur  Richer,  he  is  in  desperate  strates.  He  is 
hard  up.  If  he  had  been  elected  agin  he  wouldent  a  been 
that  way. 

It  makes  my  head  swim  to  think  about  what  his  dis- 
appointments are  and  may  be. 

Here  is  his  letter  to  Jobe.  It  is  so  kind  and  nice.  And 
jist  to  think  of  what  a  big  man  it  is  from,  and  the  place. 
Jobe  likes  to  read  the  headin  : 

HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Feb.  23,  1895. 
J.   GASKINS,  ESQ.: 

Dear  Sir  and  Friend — Owing  to  circumstances  over 
which  I  now  have  no  control,  I  am  compelled  to  call  on 
you  to  pay  the  $2,100  with  interest  due  me  on  mortgage, 
not  later  than  April  ist  of  the  current  year. 

43 


44  BETSY  GASK1NS,  DIMICRAT. 

No  doubt,  Mr.  Gaskins,  this  will  take  you  unawares,  and 
most  probably  unprepared.  Were  it  not  for  the  political 
reverses  with  which  I  met  last  fall,  I  would  not  be  com- 
pelled to  do  what,  I  assure  you,  is  a  very  unpleasant  thing 
to  me,  /.  e.,  call  on  you  for  this  money  at  this  time. 

No  doubt  you  will  think  that  on  the  $5,000  a  year  salary 
I  have  drawn  for  two  years,  now  nearly  past,  and  the  other 
sources  of  revenue  that  have  become  the  perquisites 
belonging  to  a  Congressman's  office,  I  ought  to  be  able  to 
get  along  without,  in  this  way,  inconveniencing  you. 

Had  I  been  re-elected  last  fall  I  would  have  been  in 
such  circumstances.  But  when  I  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  nomination  two  years  ago  cost  me  $2, 500  spot 
cash  ;  that  I  have  only  been  able  to  dispose  of  a  very  few 
post-offices  at  anything  like  paying  prices;  that,  it  being 
my  first  term,  my  services  were  not  sought  to  any  paying 
extent  by  those  seeking  "profitable  "  legislation,  as  well 
as  the  high  rents  and  expenses  in  maintaining  the  dignity 
of  myself  and  family,  I  am  satisfied  you  will  realize  not 
only  my  great  disappointment,  but  the  loss,  financially,  I 
suffer  as  a  consequence  of  my  late  defeat. 

True,  I  have  bought  something  like  $20,000  worth  of 
real  estate  in  this  city,  but  I  still  owe  nearly  $5,000  on  it. 
I  bought  it  expecting  to  be  re-elected  ;  so  you  will  see  the 
necessity  of  my  calling  in  the  money  I  now  have  out- 
standing in  order  to  meet  the  deferred  payments  on  my 
real  estate  venture. 

I  may  be  able  to  dispose  of  one  and  possibly  two  more 
post-offices  between  now  and  March  4th,  but  as  they  are 
small  offices  it  is  not  likely  that  I  will  get  more  than  $300 
to  $500  each  for  them,  and  as  the  friends  of  my  successor 
are  using  every  effort  to  postpone  these  appointments 
until  after  March  4th,  you  can  see  that  I  may  even  lose 
the  profit  on  these  appointments,  since,  as  you  are  aware, 
all  such  revenue  goes  to  my  successor  after  that  date. 

The  fact  is,  friend  Gaskins,  I  have  not  been  able  to 
clear  over  $15,000  in  the  two  years  I  have  served  as  your 
Congressman,  while  some  of  the  older  members  (those 
better  known  and  more  sought  for  by  the  liberal  rich  who 
come  here  to  secure  legislation  favorable  to  their  interests) 
make  as  high  as  a  million  a  year. 


JOB E  MUST  RAISE  THE  MONEY. 


45 


With  kind  regards  to  Betsy,  and  hoping  you  will  not 
put  me  to  the  necessity  of  foreclosing  the  mortgage  I  hold 
against  you,  I  am  Yours  truly, 

D.   M.   J.   RICHER,   M.   C. 

Now,  jist  to  think,  that  letter,  that  very  sheet  of  paper, 
come  right  from  the  great  capital  of  these  here  United 
States  ;  right  from  where  all  the  great  and  leadin  men  of 


'•  That   very  sheet  of  paper." 

the  country  sit  and  make  laws,  and  sell  post-offices  and  sich 
— yes,  this  very  sheet  of  paper  has  been  writ  on,  handled 
and  folded  by  a  live  and  livin  Congressman.  The  beauti- 
ful red  tongue  of  a  real  Congressman  licked  that  invelope, 
and  his  fingers  sealed  it  up  and  put  it  in  that  great  marble 
post-office  there ;  then  it  traveled  across  them  high 


46 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


mountains,  over 
the  big  rivers 
and  through  the 
great  cities  to 
Jobe  Gaskins,  a 
common,  every- 
day farmer,  of 
Tuskaroras 
County,  Ohio. 

Yes,  that 
letter  was  writ 
by  fingers  that 
have  fingered 

Congressman   Richer.  $5,OOO       salary 

money  in  only  twelve  months,  and  the  Lord  only  knows 
how  much  post-office  money — but  lots — as  it  must  a  been, 
though  they  dident  sell  high  enough  to  suit  him. 

Five  thousand  dollars  from  Noo  Years  to  Noo  Years! 
More  than  Jobe  Gaskins  has  cleared  since  he  become  the 
lawful  husband  of  his  dear  wife  Betsy! 

And  jist  to  think,  all  them  $5,000  paid  by  taxes.  Paid 
by  Jobe  and  his  likes. 

Poor  Mr.  Richer,  how  he  must  pant  and  sweat  to  airn 
that  much  money  in  twelve  months — as  much  as  Jobe  could 
airn  in  twenty  years  if  he  could  airn  $250  every  year.  Jist 
to  think  how  Jobe  works  and  sweats,  and  walks  stiff  and 
plans  and  studies,  and  don't  airn  $250  a  year. 

I  expect  there  wasent  a  dry  thread  in  all  of  Mr.  Richer's 
clothes. 

I  expect  that  even  his  pants  was  wet  through  every  day 
of  that  whole  year. 

What  big  washins  poor  Mrs.  Richer  must  a  had. 

Jobe  he  jist  couldent  stand  sich  sweatin,  day  in  and  day 
out. 


JOBE  MUST  RAISE  THE  MONEY.  47 

It  would  take  a  whole  barrel  of  soft  soap  to  keep  his 
clothes  clean. 

Five  thousand  dollars! 

Five  thousand  dollars  a  year!! 

Four  hundred  and  sixteen  dollars  a  month!!! 

Seventeen  dollars  a  day  for  every  workin  day  in  the 
year! 

Seventeen  dollars! 

Enough  to  buy  me  twenty-four  caliker  dresses  a  day! 


"Jobe  works  and  sweats." 

One  every  hour!! 

Seven  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  caliker 
dresses  in  a  year!!! 

How  in  the  world  could  I  git  them  all  made? 

I  spect  poor  Mrs.  Richer  has  to  so  day  and  nite. 

And  jist  to  think,  all  of  them  7,488  dresses  for  one  man's 
wife! 

All  paid  for  by  taxes. 

Now  I  wonder,  if  them  Congressmen  dident  have  to 
work  so  hard,  and  could  get  along  on  less  pay — I  wonder 


48  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

if  the  tax-payer's  wife  wouldent  have  a  dress  or  two  more, 
even  if  Mrs.  Richer  and  her  likes  had  to  get  along  on  a 
dress  or  two  less?  The  Lord  knows  she  could  spare  them 
out  of  all  them  7,488  dresses. 

Well,  the  idea  okepyin  my  mind  most  now  is  :  "Where 
can  Jobe  git  the  money  to  pay  all  that  $2,100,  when  he 
haint  got  even  one  post-office  to  sell?" 


CHAPTER  VI. 

BETTY,    THE    DRIVIN    ANIMAL. 

EVER  since  we  got  that  letter  from  Congressman 
Richer,  demandin  his  $2,100  by  the  fust  of  Aprile, 
Jobe  has  been  scourin  the  country  fur  and  near 
tryin  to  borrow  the  money,  and,  poor  man,  he  is  worse 
destracted  than  ever.  Things  haint  like  they  use  to  be. 
Nobody  seems  to  have  any  money  to  lend.  He  finds  lots 
of  people  a  luintin  money,  but  nobody  a  findin  any.  He 
has  been  to  Sandyville,  and  Mineral  Pint,  and  Zoar,  and 
way  up  in  Stark  County  as  fur  as  New  Berlin,  and  nary  the 
man  has  he  found  with  $2,100  to  lend  on  good  security. 

What  to  do  Jobe  dont  know,  nor  neither  do  I. 

Jobe  says  he  will  write  to  Mr.  Richer  and  git  him  to  wait 
a  little  longer,  until  times  pick  up  a  little. 

"But,"  says  I,  "  Jobe,  when  will  times  pick  up?" 

And  the  poor  man,  lookin  at  me  sadder  than  he  has 
since  he  become  my  dear  husband,  says,  says  he  : 

"Betsy,  the  Lord  only  knows — I  dont." 

And  I  think  Jobe  is  right. 

Well,  we — that  is  Jobe  and  me,  the  two  old  parties — 
have  decided  that  the  interest  will  have  to  be  paid  whether 
the  $2,100  is  or  not.  So  Jobe  has  been  a  rakin  and  a 
scrapin  to  raise  what  he  could,  and  I  have  been  a  rakin 
and  a  scrapin  to  raise  what  I  could. 

We  sold  Betty  the  other  day,  the  only  drivin  animal  we 
had  ;  sold  her  for  only  $42. 

As  the  stranger  went  a  leadin  her  away  Jobe  and  me 
both  sot  down  and  cried.  We  both  loved  Betty.  Wti 

49 


5o  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

had  raised  her  from  a  colt.  She  was  a  purty  colt,  and  so 
lovin  like,  Jobe  he  named  her  for  me.  We  had  intended 
to  always  keep  her,  and  since  our  little  Jane  was  taken 
from  us  we  jist  loved  Betty  as  if  she  was  a  child.  And, 
poor  Betty,  I  know  she  loved  us.  When  the  stranger 
started  to  lead  her  away  she  jist  looked  back  at  Jobe  and 
me,  so  pleadin  like,  as  much  as  to  say:  "Dont  let  him 
take  me  away  from  you!" 

When  I  seen  that  look  my  heart  come  up  in  my  throat, 
and    I    jist  couldent  hold   in  any  longer.      I   busted  out  a 


"Jobe  and  me  both  sot  down  and  cried." 

cryin,  and  so  did  poor  Jobe.  We  both  sot  there  and  cried 
and  looked  at  our  poor  Betty  as  fur  as  we  could  see  her, 
and  she  kept  a  lookin  back  at  us,  nickerin — tryin  to  speak 
the  best  she  could. 

Ever  since  she  has  been  gone  my  heart  keeps  a  comin  up 
in  my  throat,  and  tears  keeps  comin  in  my  eyes  every  time 
I  think  of  her.  I  know  it  is  foolish  and  no  use,  but  I  cant 
help  it. 

I  know  the  interest  has  to  be  paid  if  it  takes  everything 


BETTY,   THE  DRIVIN  ANIMAL.  5I 

we  have,  but  I  cant  help  cryin  when  I  think  poor  Betty  is 
gone  from  us  forever — yes,  gone  for  interest. 

Well,  with  the  $42  for  Betty  and  twenty-six  bushels  of 
wheat  and  twenty-eight  bushels  of  corn  and  $14  worth  of 
sheep,  and  the  only  brood  sow  we  had,  and  96  cents'  worth 
of  old  iron,  Jobe  has  been  able  to  raise  $92.34,  arter  payin 
Banker  Jones  the  discount  for  cashin  the  notes  he  took  for 
the  sheep  and  the  sow,  and  Jobe  says  he  cant  think  of 
another  thing  to  sell.  I  jist  up  and  says,  says  I  : 

"Jobe,  its  awful.  Poor  Betty  gone  for  interest;  our 
wheat  gone  ;  nearly  all  our  corn ;  our  sheep  gone  ;  our 
brood  sow  ;  and  what  will  we  have  to  show  for  it  when  the 
interest  is  paid?  Nothin.  We  will  owe  jist  as  much  on 
the  mortgage  as  before.  But  Jobe,  dear,"  says  I,  "I  will 
help  you  all  I  can  to  raise  the  balance.  I  will  spare  you  a 
dozen  hens,  though  layin  time  is  just  here.  And  there  is 
my  carpet  nigs,  that  I  wanted  to  git  made  into  a  new 
carpet  for  the  spare  room  ;  we  might  sell  them  for  some- 
thing. And  I  have  them  two  new  quilts  I  made  last  fall  a 
year.  I  can  spare  them  by  patchin  up  the  old  ones  to  last 
a  year  or  so  longer.  I  see,  too,  Jobe,  that  feathers  are  a 
good  price,  considerm  the  times ;  we  could  sell  all  the 
feathers  we  have  in  our  pillers,  if  you  think  you  could 
sleep  on  straw  pillers  awhile,  until  times  git  better.  If 
you  say  so,  Jobe,  He  gether  all  these  things  up  and  we  will 
take  them  to  town  and  sell  them  for  what  we  can  git.  The 
Lord  knows,  Jobe,  I  am  willin  to  do  all  I  can  to  help  you 
raise  the  interest  money." 

As  I  looked  at  him  I  saw  big  tears  rollin  down  his 
wrinkled  cheek. 

Whether  he  was  thinkin  of  poor  Betty,  or  me  a  sellin 
the  pillers,  or  what,  I  dont  know.  He  said  nothin,  but 
turned  aside  and  walked  out  toward  the  barn.  I  saw  him 
usin  his  hankercher  as  he  went. 


52  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

Now,  though  I  be  crazy  on  what  I  read  in  them  noose- 
papers,  though  I  be  so  crazy  that  I  dream  about  it,  I 
would  like  to  ask  you  if  my  dream  about  the  new  money 
plan,  and  the  county  treasurer,  and  borrowing  money  at 
two  per  cent.,  though  that  dream,  Bill  Bowers  and  all, 
come  from  the  mind  of  a  crazy  woman,  sleepin  alone — I 
say,  wouldent  it  be  a  godsend  to  Jobe  and  his  likes  if  he 
could  go  to  the  county  treasurer  this  spring  and  if,  by  givin 
the  same  kind  of  a  mortgage  he  gave  Congressman  Richer, 
he  could  git  the  money  to  pay  Mr.  Richer  off  at  only  two 
percent.?  Next  year  our  interest  would  only  be  a  little 
over  $40. 

And,  oh,  how  that  lump  comes  up  in  my  throat  when  I 
think  that  if  we  had  had  sich  a  law  this  Aprile  we  need 
not  have  sold  poor  Betty. 

Would  it  not  be  better  to  have  a  State  law  authorizin  our 
county  treasurer  to  receive  deposits,  and  loan  money  at  a 
low  interest,  even  if  we  had  to  take  tax  off  from  money  to 
do  it,  than  to  have  people  sellin  the  things  they  love,  doin 
without  the  things  they  ort  to  have,  and  losin  their  homes? 
Who  would  sich  a  law  hurt?  Congressman  Richer  and  his 
likes  would  git  their  money  if  they  wanted  it,  and  Jobe  and 
his  likes  would  be  able  to  pay  two  per  cent,  interest  and 
some  on  the  mortgage  every  year.  And  jist  to  think,  if 
interest  was  less,  the  difference  in  interest  alone  would  pay 
off  all  the  mortgages  in  this  county  in  a  few  years. 

Then  people  would  live  in  homes  of  their  own,  in  homes 
with  no  mortgages  on  them. 

Everybody  would  be  out  of  debt  and  happy.  But  I  me 
talkin  crazy  agin  and  will  have  to  stop  until  Jobe  and  me 
gits  back  from  town. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THEY    DRIVE    OLD    TOM. 

JOBE  and  me  have  been  to  town  and  we  are  back  alive, 
thank  goodness.  There  is  no  place  like  home — if  it 
is  mortgaged. 

Last  Tuesday  mornin,  bright  and  airly,  Jobe  and  me  got 
up  and  got  ready  to  go  to  town  to  raise  some  more  interest 
money. 

I  wore  that  blue  cambric  dress  that  Simon  Kinsey's  wife 
got  me  for  helpin  her  make  apple  butter  last  fall  three 
years  ago,  and  the  lace  cap  mother  knit  and  gave  me  the 
year  John  Sherman  fust  begin  to  borrow  greenback  money 
on  bonds  and  burn  it  up,  and  that  black  straw  hat  Mrs. 
Vest  Hummel  traded  me  for  that  half  dozen  of  dominie 
hens  the  spring  she  was  married. 

While  I  was  a  standin  before  the  lookin  glass  gittin 
ready  Jobe  come  in,  as  men  allers  do,  and  says,  says  he  : 

"Betsy,  are  you  ever  goin  to  git  ready?" 

Then  he  begin  to  comment  on  my  clothes.     Says  he  : 

"I  hope  you  haint  a  goin  to  wear  that  cap?  Why,  its 
out  of  fashion  ten  years  ago.  Haint  you  got  a  dress  with 
bigger  sleeves  in?  Why  dont  you  borrow  a  hat  more 
becomin  you?" 

I  stood  it  as  long  as  I  could,  then  I  jist  up  and  says, 
says  I  : 

"Jobe  Gaskins,  my  mother  wore  a  cap,  and  she  made 
this  one  with  her  own  fingers,  and,  fashion  or  no  fashion,  I 
expect  to  wear  it  when  and  where  I  please.  If  my  dress 
sleeves  haint  big  enough  to  suit  you,  you  quit  votin  the 

53 


BETSY  GASKIXS,  DIM1CRAT. 


"Started  for  town  bright  and  airly." 


ticket  that  is  causin  us  farmers  to  spend  five  dollars  for 
interest  and  taxes  to  one  for  women's  clothes.  If  my  hat 
is  out  of  date,  sir,  you  begin  to  inquire  why  I  haint  able 
to  buy  a  new  one,  and  see  if  you  cant  have  sense  enough 
to  vote  for  a  better  system  of  laws,  instid  of  votin  for  a 
lot  of  ofBce-seekin  canderdates  who  belong  to  your  part)' 
for  the  salary  they  are  a  gittin  or  expect  to  git.  Yes,  see 
if  you  cant  have  sense  enough  to  vote  for  a  party  that  will 
make  laws  for  the  farmer  as  well  as  for  the  banker." 

You  ort  a  seen  him  tuck  tail  and  sneak. 

The  idea  of  a  man,  with  the  sense  Jobe  Gaskins  has, 
wantin  his  wife  to  put  on  airs,  when  he  knows  it  takes  all 
she  can  rake  and  scrape  to  help  pay  interest  and  taxes  to 
the  leadin  citizens  so  they  and  their  wives  can  put  em  on! 

Well,  we  loaded  in  our  truck — that  is,  our  chickens  and 
our  quilts  and  our  feathers  and  sich,  and  started  for  town 
bright  and  airly. 

We  hitched  old  Tom,  the  only  hoss  we  have  since  we 
sold  Betty,  to  the  spring  wagon. 

Tom  haint  purty,  and,  bein  stringhalted  in  his  right 
hind  leg  and  lame  in  his  left  fore  foot,  I  couldent  help 
thinkin  of  poor  Betty  as  we  proceeded  toward  town.  Betty 
would  trot  along  as  though  she  enjoyed  takin  us.  Tom 
he  limped  and  jerked  along  as  though  he  would  like  any- 
thing else. 


THEY  DRIVE  OLD  TOM.  55 

We  finally  got  there,  and  from  the  time  we  struck  the 
superbs  of  the  town  till  we  hitched  in  front  of  Urfer's  store 
people  were  a  snickerin,  and  a  titterin,  and  a  pintin  at  us. 

Women  would  come  to  the  winders  and  scream  out  a 
kind  of  a  holler  laf,  and  then  two  or  three  more  would 
come,  and  they  would  laf  and  titter  and  holler  until  I  was 
ashamed  of  them. 

When  we  got  up  to  the  court-house  square  a  lot  of 
young  upstarts,  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  old,  were 
standin  on  the  corner  by  Miller's  drug-store,  smokin  paper 
segars,  and  they  begin  to  holler  at  us  and  poor  old 
crippled  Tom,  all  sich  nonsense  as  "Git  on  to  that  horse," 
"  See  his  gait,"  "  Where'd  yer  git  that  hat?"  "  Have  you 
got  any  hay  to  sell?"  "See  her  style!"  "Oh,  haint  she  a 
lolly?"  etcetery. 

I  dont  know  who  they  were,  but  they  were  young  men 
and  big  enough  to  have  more  sense  and  better  manners  ; 
but  I  guess  maybe  their  raisin  was  neglected  and  they 
couldent  help  it.  They  dident  look  like  coal  miners,  or  mill 
hands,  or  farmers,  and  I  know  they  wasent  sich.  They  all 
were  well  dressed  and  wore  pinted  yaller  shoes.  They 
couldent  a  been  the  sons  of  the  leadin  citizens,  because  one 
would  think  they  would  teach  their  offspring  better  sense. 
Maybe  they  were  orphans,  born  without  parents.  I  dont 
know. 

Well,  arter  we  got  through  the  storm  of  insult  and 
abuse  that  we  had  to  suffer  because  we  had  to  sell  our 
drivin  animal  to  git  interest  money,  we  begin  to  try  to  sell 
our  stuff.  Most  of  the  stores  was  willin  to  trade  goods  for 
what  we  had,  but  none  of  em  wanted  to  spare  any  money. 
We  went  from  one  store  to  another,  Jobe  a  tellin  them 
that  he  had  to  have  money  to  meet  interest,  and  that  we 
were  sellin  our  quilts  and  pillers  to  git  it.  Fust  one  and 
then  another  would  buy  somethin,  jist  to  accommodate 


56  BETSY  C A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

us,  until  we  finally  got  our  stuff  all  disposed  of.  We  got 
$14.45  in  cash,  which,  added  to  what  Jobe  had,  made 
$106.79,  lackin  $19.21  of  enough  to  pay  Congressman 
Richer  the  $126  interest. 

We  was  in  Mathias  &  Dick's  store  when  we  sold  the 
last  of  our  stuff,  and  steppin  aside  Jobe  and  me  counted 
up  how  much  we  had  and  how  much  we  lacked. 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  Jobe,  "where  will  we  git  the 
balance?" 

I  studied  a  minit.     Then  it  come  to  me  all  at  once. 

"Why,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "lets  go  and  accept  that  cander- 
date  feller's  invitation  to  'come  and  see  him  arter  he's 
elected  ;'  he's  elected,  and  you  voted  fur  him  and  fed  him 
and  his  hoss  when  he  was  runnin.  He  will  lend  you  the 
$19.21  you  lack." 

"  Maybe  he  will,"  says  Jobe  ;   "  lets  go  and  see." 

And  at  that  we  started  fur  the  court-house. 

Jist  as  we  got  across  the  street  onto  them  big  stone 
flaggin  in  front  of  the  court-house,  we  met  that  Republican 
feller  with  black  mustache  and  curly  like  hair  who  is 
hankerin  arter  the  county  clerk's  office.  Says  he  : 

"Why,  hello,  Gaskins,  howdy  do?"  all  smilin  and 
nearly  shakin  the  arm  off  Jobe.  "Well,  Gaskins,  weve 
got  em  out,"  says  he,  "got  em  out!  Every  office  in  that 
grand  old  buildin  is  now  okepied  by  one  of  our  own  fellers. 
I  tell  you,  Gaskins,  its  a  day  we  may  well  feel  proud  of," 
hittin  Jobe  a  lick  on  the  shoulder. 

"Well,"  says  Jobe,  "I  cant  see  as  it  makes  much 
difference  to  me.  Taxes  are  jist  as  high  and  interest 
money  as  hard  to  raise  as  it  was  when  the  Dimicrats  were 
in.  I  cant  see  where  us  tax-payers  has  anything  to  be 
proud  of  ;  we  dont  git  any  of  the  salaries." 

"Why,  Gaskins,  what  do  you  mean?"  says  he.  "  Dont 
you  feel  proud  that  the  people  of  our  own  party,  the 


THEY  DRIVE,  OLD  TOM. 


57 


Republicans,  has  at 
last  routed  the  Dem- 
mies  from  the  county 
offices?" 

"  No,  I  cant  say  as 
I  do,"  says  Jobe  ;  "fact 
is,  I  cant  see  much 
difference  to  me  be- 
tween a  good  Dimicrat 
and  a  good  Republican 
or  between  a  bad  Dim- 
icrat and  a  bad  Re- 
publican, so  long  as 
both  are  willin  to  let 
bad  laws  remain  and 
good  ones  go  unmade, 
provided  they  git  to 
draw  a  salary.  Where 


"Jobe  and  me  counted  up  how  much 
we  had." 


is  the  difference?"  says  Jobe,  with  force. 

"Gaskins!"  says  he,  steppin  back  and  lookin  at  Jobe 
from  head  to  foot.  "Gaskins,  is  it  possible  you  are 
succumbin  to  pettycoat  argament?"  (lookin  sideways 
at  me). 

I  was  teched. 

I  jist  up  and  says,  says  I  : 

"  Mister  Canderdate,  it  would  be  a  Lord's  blessin  if  him 
and  more  of  his  likes  would  listen  to  pettycoat  argament 
instid  of  the  argament  of  you  office-seekin  canderdates." 
Says  I:  "Come  on,  Jobe,"  takin  hold  of  his  arm  and 
startin. 

I  looked  back  when  I  got  a  piece  away,  and  I  seed  the 
feller  had  met  Doc  Tinker  and  was  pintin  at  my  clothes 
and  smilin.  I  thought  I  heard  Doc  say: 

"Yes,   them   are    the    marks   of    prosperity  the  admin- 


5  8  BETSY  G A  SKINS,  DIM1CRAT. 

istrations  of  the  past  thirty  years  have  scattered  over  the 
country." 

That  is  what  I  thought  he  said.  The  feller  went  on 
.across  the  street.  I  dident  see  him  smile  or  pint  any 
more. 

Well,  we  went  on  to  accept  the  invitation  to  see  the 
feller  okepy  a  county  office. 

We  dumb  up  them  high  steps,  went  through  them  big 
doors,  past  several  fine  rooms,  till  we  come  to  the  sign  of 
that  office  to  which  he  was  elected. 

The  door  was  shet. 

Jobe  knocked,  and  some  one  inside  hollered,  "Come  in." 

They  hadent  manners  enough  to  git  up  and  open  the 
door  for  us. 

In  we  went.  It  was  a  nice  place,  nicer  than  my  spare 
room,  and  so  warm  and  pleasant.  If  I  could  git  to  live 
there  day  in  and  day  out,  without  payin  interest  money  or 
rent,  Ide  do  all  their  writin  for  a  good  deal  less  than  what 
I  hear  they  git.  It  is  so  nice. 

Well,  when  we  got  in  we  found  two  men  and  two  women 
settin  over  next  to  the  winder,  a  eatin  oranges  and  laffin. 
Nobody  was  doin  nothin. 

I  spect  the  county  officer  got  up  airly  so  as  to  do  his 
work  before  his  visitors  would  come. 

They  all  was  a  talkin  and  a  laffin  and  a  shootin  orange 
seeds  at  each  other,  and  enjoyin  theirselves  high. 

They  stopt  when  we  went  in,  and  the  feller  what  eat  our 
dinner  and  hoss  feed  come  up  to  the  fence  and  asked 
what  he  could  do  for  us,  lookin  round  at  the  women. 

The  women  they  would  look  at  me,  then  at  one  another, 
then  whisper,  then  look  out  of  the  winder  and  laf. 

Jobe,  answerin  the  feller,  says,  says  he  : 

"I  want  to  borry  $19.21  till  arter  oats  harvest." 

Says  the  feller  : 


THEY  DRIVE  OLD  TOM. 


59 


"Why,  my  dear  man,  I  dont  know  you,"  lookin  round 
towards  the  women. 

They  smiled. 

"  Dont  know  me?"  says  Jobe.  "Why,  Ime  Jobe  Gas- 
kins,  the  most  prominent  and  influential  Republican  in  our 
township.  Jist  afore  election  last  fall  you  was  at  my 
house,  when  you  was  runnin.  I  voted  for  you." 

The  feller  studied  a  minit. 

"That  may  all  be,  Mr.  Gaskins,"  says  he,  "but  I  saw 
so  many  people  durin  my  campaign,  and  so  many  voted 
for  me  that  if  I  was  to  lend  each  of  them  $19.21  I  would 
have  nothing  left  for  myself.  I  can  not  accommodate  you. 
You  see  I  have  company"  (pintin  to  the  women),  "so  you 
will  have  to  excuse  me  "  (turnin  to  leave  us). 

I  jist  up  and  says,  says  I  : 

"Hold  on,  Mister  Officer!  Dont  be  in  a  hurry.  We 
are  here  by  your  invitation.  We  paid  you  for  the  privilege 
of  visitin  you — paid  you,  sir,  in  hoss  feed  and  grub,  besides 
payin  by  taxes  to  come  here  any  time  we  see  fit.  We 
have  come  to  stay  all  day  ;  to  visit  with  you.  I  have 
brought  my  knittin  and  am  in  no  hurry.  You  ort  a  be 
decent  enough  to  ask  us  over  the  fence  and  give  us  cheers 
to  sit  down  on." 

You  ort  a  seen  them  women.      They  looked  distrest. 

The  officer  looked  tired. 

The  women  begun  to  tuck  their  skirts  close  agin  their 
legs.  I  suppose  they  wanted  to  keep  my  cambric  dress 
from  rubbin  em. 

But  land  a  goodness!  jist  to  torment  enr  I  said  I  was 
goin  to  stay.  I  knocle  they  would  have  no  more  fun  that 
arternoon  if  I  stayed  there.  I  knode  I  wouldent  be  wel- 
come, and  if  Ide  a  had  to  stayed  there  Ide  a  wanted  them 
women  gone. 

When  that  feller  said  he  wouldent  I  knode  it  was  no  use 


60  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

of  askin  any  more.  What  does  he  care  for  the  hardships 
of  old  Jobe  Gaskins  and  his  wife  Betsy? 

So  I  jist  up  and  says,  says  I  : 

"Dont  worry,  Jobe.  Weve  got  along  without  any  com- 
modation  from  him  ;  we  can  git  along  agin.  Arter  this 
when  a  office-seekin  canderdate  comes  to  our  house  and 
talks  about  your  bein  the  'most  intelligent,  influential 
and  prominent  Republican  in  our  township,'  and  is  'aston- 
ished that  you  ever  read  sich  nonsense  as  Populist  noose- 
papers,  much  less  indorse  them  ;'  that  talks  about  the 
Dimicrats  all  bein  rascals  and  the  Populists  all  cranks  ; 
that  feeds  you  on  three-for-five  segars  and  tells  you  they 
are  regular  five-centers,  you  have  sense  enough  to  charge 
him  25  cents  for  dinner  and  15  cents  for  hoss  feed. 

"When  votin  day  comes  recollect  that  'self-preservation 
is  the  fust  law  of  natur ;'  that  the  officeholder  draws  the 
salary  and  j'ou  pay  the  taxes  ;  that  votin  can  bring  you  to 
distress  or  prosperity. 

"Come  on,"  says  I,  and  we  left. 

None  of  them  was  laffin.     They  seemed  to  be  thinkin. 

Jobe  he  was  jist  so  disappinted  at  not  gittin  the  money, 
and  his  perlitical  loyalty  was  so  shockt  at  the  feller  fur- 
gittin  him,  that  he  wouldent  try  to  borry  the  interest 
money  any  more  that  day. 

We  jist  got  in  our  wagon  and  went  up  that  alley  by 
Urfer's  store  till  we  got  out  of  town.  Nobody  seen  us. 

Jobe  is  diggin  a  well  for  Bill  Gerber,  gittin  50  cents  a 
day. 

If  the)'  dont  strike  water  too  soon,  and  if  it  dont  take 
too  long,  and  if  the  fust  of  Aprile  dont  come  too  airly,  we 
may  be  able  to  raise  the  balance  of  the  interest  money  in 
time  to  keep  from  being  foreclosed. 

No  letter  from  Congressman  Richer  yit. 

I  wish  interest  was  two  per  cent. ,  dream  or  no  dream. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

ANOTHKR    LETTER    FROM    RICHER. 

JOBE   went    to    the    election    Monday   and    voted   her 
strait.     That  nite   I   put  another  patch  on  his  pants. 
Ive  been  a  doin  his  patchin  just  arter  election  every 
year  since  1873. 

Jobe  dont  mind  patches  so  long  as  the  Republicans  are 
in,  but  there  is  no  end  to  his  kickin  if  the  Dimicrats  are  in. 
I  cant  see  what  difference  it  makes;  the  patchin  has  to 
be  done,  and  more  of  it,  every  year. 

Tuesday  Jobe  went  to  town  to  pay  his  interest  and  hear 
how  the  election  went.  He  had  borrowed  what  he  lacked 
of  Bill  Gerber  and  will  work  it  out  at  diggin  that  well. 

When  he  got  to  town  he  went  strait  to  Jones's  bank 
and  paid  the  $126  interest,  then  went  to  the  post-office  and 

got  this  letter : 

OFFICE  OF 

BERIAR  WILKINSON, 

GENERAL  SPECULATOR  AND  POLITICAL  WIRE-PULLER. 
D.  M.  J.  RICHER,  Attorney, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Mar.  29,  1895. 
J.  GASKINS,  ESQ.: 

Dear  Sir — Your  letter  to  hand.  I  must  have  the  money. 
I  have  instructed  my  attorney  to  begin  foreclosure  proceed- 
ings at  once,  unless  the  $2,100  is  paid  by  April  loth,  1895. 

Yours  truly. 

D.  M.  J.  RICHER. 

This  took  Jobe's  breath.  He  forgot  to  ask  who  was 
elected.  He  hurried  from  the  post-office  to  the  bank,  to 
git  his  interest  money  back,  hopin  he  could  save  that 
much. 

61 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


When  he  got  into  the  bank 
and  explained  to  Mr.  Jones 
that  he  had  got  that  letter 
and  that  he  wanted  his  in- 
terest money  back,  Banker 
Jones  kind  a  smiled  and 
said:  "You  should  have 
gone  to  the  post-office  first, 
Mr.  Gaskins.  I  cannot  give 
you  the  money  back  now. 
That  would  not  be  bizness, 
Mr.  Gaskins.  It  would  not 
be  bizness." 

"That  night  I  put  another  patch  on        Jobe  he  explained  to  him 

his  pants'"  that  the  reason  he  did  not 

go  to  the  post-office  fust  was  because  he  was  anxious  to  git 

the  interest  paid,  and  that  was  the  fust  thing  on  his  mind. 

"Cant  help  it,"  says  the  banker. 

Jobe  he  begged  and  plead  for  the  money.  Told  him  of 
our  sellin  Betty,  and  our  wheat,  and  corn,  and  sheep,  and 
hog,  and  quilts,  and  feathers,  and  chickens,  and  of  his 
borrowin  part  of  it  from  Bill  Gerber — told  him  how  he  had 
tried  to  borrow  the  money  to  pay  it  all  and  couldent  find 
any  one  that  had  it  to  loan  ;  he  showed  him  how,  if  we  were 
foreclosed,  we  would  have  nothin  left  at  all. 

Banker  Jones  told  him  it  was  too  bad,  but  it  couldent  be 
helped  ;  he  couldent  give  Jobe  any  of  the  interest  money 
back. 

"Bizness  is  bizness,"  says  Banker  Jones,  "and  I  have 
to  do  bizness  accordin  to  bizness  rules." 

Jobe  asked  him  to  be  merciful,  and  told  him  the  Lord 
would  bless  him  if  he  would  show  mercy  to  them  a  needin 
mercy. 

But  Banker  Jones  said  he  was  purty  comfortable  as  it 


ANOTHER  LETTER  FROM  RICHER. 


was,  and  when  he  needed 
any  favors  from  the  Lord 
he  ginerally  paid  "spot 
cash"  for  em;  in  fact  he  had 
several  blessins  paid  for  in 
advance. 

Then  he  told  Jobe  if  he 
had  any  other  bizness  to 
attend  to  he  had  better  go 
and  attend  to  it,  as  he  was 
bizzy. 

Poor  Jobe!  He  jist  got 
out  and  come  home.  He 
says  he  dont  recollect  how 
he  got  home,  he  felt  so 
dazed  and  queer.  He  has 
been  droopin  around  all  day. 
He  looks  distrest ;  and,  poor 
man,  I  know  he  is.  The 
Lord  only  knows  what  will 
become  of  us — I  dont. 


"He  explained  to  Mr.  Jones." 


My  heart  has  been  a  raisin  up  in  my  throat  all  day. 

Every  time  I  see  anybody  a  comin  up  the  road  I  feel 
faint  like  and  skeert.  I  think  its  the  sheriff  a  comin  to 
notify  us  that  we  are  foreclosed. 

If  Jobe  had  only  heerd  how  the  election  went  he  might 
feel  better.  I  wish  the  Republicans  got  in.  I  wish  it, 
though  Ime  a  Dimicrat.  I  wish  it  for  Jobe's  sake.  It 
might  help  him  bear  his  trouble  better. 

Jist  to  think,  if  we  had  only  $2,100  of  all  them 
$683,000,000  of  greenbacks  that  John  Sherman  burned  up 
when  he  was  in  office — yes,  and  put  Jobe  and  his  likes  in 
bonds  to  git  them  to  burn — I  say  if  we  had  cnly  $2,100  of 


64  BETSY  G A  SKINS,  D I  MIC  RAT. 

all  them  millions,  we  could  pay  off  our  mortgage  and  Jobe 
would  be  happy. 

If  Sherman  had  burned  less  of  that  money,  I  wonder  if 
Jobe  and  his  likes  wouldent  have  more? 

Do  the  people  in  the  poor-house  have  interest,  and  mort- 
gages, and  foreclosures,  and  taxes  and  sich  to  worry  them? 

I  have  to  quit.      My  heart  is  heavy. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

A    FEW    REASONS    BY    BETSY. 

THE    Republicans    swept    the  platter.      They  elected 
every    officer   from   township    clerk    down,   and  the 
sheriff  has   sent  Jobe   a  notice  to  appear  before  the 
Common  Pleas  Court  and   show  cause  why  he  should  not 
be  foreclosed. 

Jobe  feels  good  over  the  election,  but  bad  over  the 
notice. 

Now  I  think  there  are  a  good  many  reasons  why  we 
shouldent  be  foreclosed,  and  more  reasons  why  we  hadent 
ort  to  be.  Its  not  our  fault  that  we  have  to  be. 

First.  We  shouldent  be  because  Jobe  has  voted  the 
strait  Republican  ticket,  rain  or  shine,  for  nigh  onto 
thirtj'-five  years.  In  this  he  has  done  his  dooty — as  he 
seen  it. 

Second.  We  have  paid  our  taxes  every  year  without 
ceasin,  not  even  complainin  when  the  law-makers  drawed 
two  years'  pay  for  one  year's  work,  nor  when  new  officers 
were  added  and  old  ones  given  more  wages.  In  this  we 
done  more  than  our  dooty. 

Third.  We  have  given  all  we  raised  to  Congressman 
Richer  for  interest,  not  even  keepin  enough  out  to  take  a 
trip  to  Urope  or  to  buy  me  a  new  spring  bonnet.  In  this 
we  done  all  our  health  and  opportunity  enabled  us  to  do. 

Fourth.  We  have  indorsed  everything  the  polerticians 
and  office-seekers  done  or  said  clurin  our  united  lives, 
even  havin  to  change  our  minds  as  often  as  twice  a  year  to 
do  so.  In  this  we  have  been  foolish. 

65 


66  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

Fifth.  When  John  Sherman  was  a  burnin  up  that 
$623,428,000  of  greenback  money  and  givin  the  rich  men 
of  New  York  and  Urope  mortgages  on  our  property  to  git 
the  money  to  burn,  I  agreed  it  was  fine  sport,  jist  to  please 
Jobe,  and  when  Jobe  said  the  national  debt  John  was 
makin  was  a  national  blessin,  I  nodded  my  head  to  it, 
though  I  was  a  Dimicrat.  I  nodded  to  keep  peace  in  the 
family. 

I  am  now  payin  for  them  nods,  payin  for  them  in  fifty- 
cent  wheat  and  high  interest. 

Sixth.  We  have  taken  good  care  of  the  farm,  and  have 
jist  as  many  acres  as  when  we  bought  it  from  Mr.  Richer 
and  give  him  a  mortgage  for  the  balance  due.  We  have 
paid  him  $1,700  of  the  purchase  price  and  all  we  raised 
besides,  and  I  think  he  ort  to  wait  till  land  increases  in 
price  before  foreclosin  us. 

We  sent  him  down  to  Congress  to  make  laws  for  us,  and 
it  was  his  dooty  to  make  sich  laws  as  would  make  it  easier 
for  Jobe  and  his  likes  to  git  a  home  and  git  it  paid  for. 
He  dident  do  it.  In  this  he  dident  do  his  dooty, 

Now,  suppose  Mr.  Richer,  as  our  Congressman,  had 
introduced  a  bill,  and  got  it  made  into  a  law  somethin 
like  my  dream  was.  He  would  have  been  sent  back  to 
Congress  and  a  been  a  drawin  $5,000  a  year  salary  and 
disposin  of  post-offices  and  sich  at  payin  prices,  and 
wouldent  need  the  money  still  due  on  the  mortgage,  or  if 
he  did  need  it  to  help  him  out  on  his  real  estate  deals, 
under  that  new  bill  Jobe  could  borrow  the  money  of  the 
count}'  at  two  per  cent,  and  pay  it,  and  besides  could  pay 
the  interest  easier  and  have  more  each  year  to  pay  on  the 
mortgage. 

You  remember  that  my  dream  was  that  Congress  had 
passed  a  law  that  hereafter,  when  more  money  was  needed 
to  do  bizness  with  in  any  county,  instead  of  the  United 


A  FEW  REASONS  BY  BETSY.  67 

States  lendin  it  to  the  national  banks  at  one  per  cent., 
and  lettin  the  banks  loan  it  to  the  people  at  eight  or  ten 
per  cent.,  I  dreamed  that  the  law  was  that  the  same 
officers  of  the  government  should  lend  it  to  the  county  at 
one  per  cent.,  on  county  bonds  as  security,  and  that  the 
county  treasurer  should  lend  it  to  the  people  of  his  county 
at  two  per  cent.,  on  sich  security  as  the  banks  now  take, 
and  I  drempt  that  Jobe  and  me  and  Bill  Bowers  went  to 
the  county  treasurer  to  see  about  gittin  the  money  to  pay 
Congressman  Richer  the  $2,100,  and  we  found  that  sich  a 
law  was  passed,  and  the  county  still  lived.  And  I  dreamed 
that  the  bankers  was  a  peckin,  and  a  beckenin,  and  a 
coaxin  of  people  to  borrow  their  money  at  the  same  rate  of 
interest  as  the  county  treasurer  loaned  it.  Now,  had  we 
ort  to  be  foreclosed  because  no  sich  law  was  made?  Had 
Congressman  Richer  ort  a  want  to  foreclose  us  when  he 
dident  try  to  git  sich  a  law  made?  Had  we  ort  to  be  fore- 
closed when  Jobe  has  been  a  votin  men  into  office  to  make 
laws  that  would  make  it  easier  for  him  to  live  and  pay  for 
his  home,  and  they  dident  do  it?  Had  we  ort  to  be  fore- 
closed because  them  men  have  made  laws  agin  Jobe  instead 
of  fur  him?  Made  laws  to  reduce  the  value  of  his  farm  and 
the  price  of  his  crops  ;  made  it  harder  for  him  to  pay 
debt? 

Had  Mr.  Richer  even  made  a  law  permittin  county 
treasurers  to  receive  deposits  of  people  who  would  ruther 
put  their  money  in  the  county  treasury  than  in  banks,  and 
allowed  the  county  treasurer  to  loan  it  out  in  the  name  of 
the  county  at  three  or  four  per  cent.,  givin  all  he  received 
as  interest,  less  what  it  cost  to  attend  to  it,  to  the  fellers 
what  deposited  it,  it  would  a  helped  us  some.  But  he 
dident  do  it  nor  try  to  do  it. 

If  we  are  foreclosed  and  our  farm  is  sold  by  the  sheriff, 
and  Mr.  Richer  bids  it  in  for  $2,100  and  gits  the  farm  back, 


68 


BETSY  GASKINS,  D1M1CRAT. 


where   is  Jobe's  $1,700  cash   paid  on   the    principal    and 
$2,212  interest  money  he  has  paid? 

Who  gits  it?  What  has  Jobe  got  for  it?  For  who  has 
Jobe  and  me  been  a  workin  for  the  last  sixteen  years? 
For  who  is  this  foreclosin  law,  with  high  interest,  made? 
I  hope  we  will  be  able  to  git  our  case  at  court  put  off  till 
arter  the  fall  election  and  corn  huskin!  Livin  in  this  hope 
I  must  retire  to  bed.  Jobe  is  asleep  in  his  cheer.  Every 
little  bit  there  is  a  troubled  look  conies  into  his  face,  as 
though  his  dreams  haint  all  pleasant. 


CHAPTER  X. 

IS    THERE    A    WOMAN    IN    THE    BARN? 

YOUD  a  dide  to  see  the  fun  I  had  with  Jobe  day 
before  yisterday.  It  was  warm  like,  and  I  went  out 
to  the  barn  to  see  what  Jobe  was  a  doin.  When  I 
got  up  to  the  barn  door  I  heerd  Jobe  a  talkin.  Peekin  in 
through  a  crack,  I  seed  Jobe  settin  on  the  half-bushel, 
lookin  desperate  and  jist  a  layin  it  off  with  his  hands,  like 
as  if  he  was  argyin  with  some  one.  At  times  he  come  so 
near  a  swearin  that  he  is  in  danger  of  gittin  churched,  if 
they  find  it  out  on  him.  Jist  as  I  got  my  eye  to  that  crack 
he  brought  his  fist  down  on  his  knee  with  force,  and  says, 
says  he : 

"Ive  been  made  a  fool  of  and  I  know  it.  Ive  marched 
up  to  the  ballot-box  for  nigh  onto  thirty-five  years  and 
voted  men  into  office  that  cared  no  more  for  Jobe  Gaskins 
and  his  likes  than  they  did  for  a  good  fox  hound,  and  not 
as  much.  They  said  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  the  green- 
backs, and  I  said,  'Destroy  them.'  They  said,  'We  ort 
to  demonitize  silver,'  and  I  said,  'Demonitize  her.'  I 
seed  that  times  was  gittin  harder,  but  they  said  way  back 
in  the  seventies  that  the  tariff  ort  to  be  higher,  and  the 
next  year  higher,  and  higher,  and  higher.  And  every  time 
they  said  higher  I  hollered,  and  the  higher  they  made  it 
the  louder  I  hollered,  and  kept  a  hollerin  until  to-day 
about  all  I  have  to  show  for  my  hollerin  and  votin  is  the 
holler,  and  there  is  dummed  little  of  that  left  now. 

"Here  I  am  a  old  man.  I  have  worked  hard,  year  in 
and  year  out,  and  have  been  fool  enough  to  vote  a  ticket 

69 


yo 


BETSY  GASKINS,  Df MICK  AT. 


crack. ' ' 


that  was  enslavin 
me  for  thirty  years 
or  more.  The 
wealth  that  I  have 
produced  by  my 
hard  work  has 
been  taken  from  me 
by  the  laws  they 
have  made,  while 
the  fellers  I  have 
voted  for  have  got 
rich,  and  say  that 
it  is  my  fault  if  I 
am  poor.  Me  and 
my  likes  had  to  be 
made  poor  in  order 
that  others  might 
be  made  rich.  Its 
no  fault  of  mine. 
Ive  tried  to  be 
honest  and  scorn 
dishonesty,  and  am 


"Peekih  through 

to-day  nearly  without  a  home  for  bein  sich  and  for  votin  the 
strait  ticket  and  not  askin  what  they  was  doin ;  while 
the  fellers  I  have  voted  for  looked  on  dishonesty  as  a 
honor,  and  have  made  laws  by  which  the  products  of  my 
labor  has  been  taken  from  me  and  given  to  themselves  and 
others  no  more  honest.  Ime  dummed  if  I  know  what  to  do. 

"If  I  leave  the  party  the  polerticians  and  officeseekers 
will  call  me  a  'sorehead'  and  sich  names  ;  if  I  stay  in  I  am 
doomed  to  distress. 

"I  wish  the  Republicans  would  make  some  of  them 
Populist  ideas  into  a  law.  Ide — Ide " 


Just  then  I  opened  the  door  all  of  a  suddent,  and  says: 


IS  THERE  A    WOMAN  IN  THE  BARN?  71 

"Jobe,  who  air  you  talkin  to?" 

"Nobody,  nobody,"  says  he,  gittin  up  and  steppin 
round,  quick  like. 

"Jobe  Gaskins,"  says  I,  puttin  my  hands  on  my  hips 
and  throwin  my  head  back.  "Jobe  Gaskins,  dident  I  hear 
you  a  talkin?" 

"No,  you  dident,"  says  he,  mad  like.  "I  haint  spoke 
a  word  for  hours." 

I  stepped  back  a  step  or  two,  lookin  Jobe  square  in  the 
face.  Says  I  : 


"Jist  a  layin  it  off  with  his  hands." 

"Jobe,  I  heerd  you  a  talkin,  and  you  needent  deny  it. 
If  there  is  a  woman  in  this  barn  I  want  to  know  it." 

At  that  Jobe  got  mad,  and  comin  at  me  with  his  fist 
drawed,  says  he  : 

"Betsy  Gaskins,  do  you  dare  accuse  me  with  anything 
like  that?"  grittin  his  few  teeth. 

I  had  grabbed  the  pitchfork.      Says  I  : 

"Jobe,  take  care!" 


72  BETSY  GASKINS,  D2MICRAT. 

He  stopped,  and  I  started  to  turn  the  hay  upside  down, 
sayin,  "  If  there  is  a  woman  in  here,  lie — He " 

Jobe  he  watched  me  a  minit  or  two  ;  then  says  he : 

"  Betsy,  what  the  Harry  is  the  matter  with  you?  There 
haint  any  woman  in  here." 

And  at  that  he  sneaked  out  of  the  barn  and  went  down 
in  the  sheep-shed. 

Now,  jist  to  think!  There  is  Jobe  Gaskins,  a  man  of 
good  sense,  a  man  who  sees  that  every  law  made  by  the 
Republican  party  since  the  war  was  a  law  agin  him,  and 
for  people  who  make  their  livin  off  Jobe  and  his  likes 
without  workin.  Yit,  fool  like,  Jobe  will  keep  a  votin  his 
party  ticket,  jist  to  please  a  lot  of  office-seekin  canderdates 
and  "hangers-on"  that  eek  out  a  existence  by  doin  the 
dirty  jobs  set  up  by  the  leadin  polerticians  and  fellers  who 
pay  to  git  laws  made  agin  Jobe  and  his  likes. 

Jobe  ort  to  be  ashamed  to  admit  that  he  was  talkin  the 
talk  I  heerd  him  talkin. 

But,  poor  Jobe,  I  suppose  he  will  keep  a  votin  for  the 
hand  that  has  smote  him,  and  will  keep  a  smotin  him,  till 
he  is  in  his  grave  and  beyond  smotin. 

Had  the  Republican  party  made  laws  for  all  the  people, 
instid  of  for  only  the  rich  ;  had  they  made  laws  to  make 
interest  less  and  taxes  lower ;  had  they  made  laws  to  make 
it  easier  for  people  to  borrow  money  when  they  needed  it, 
instid  of  makin  it  scarce  and  hard  to  git — I  say,  if  they 
had  made  sich  laws,  if  they  had  been. as  foolish  as  my 
dream  was,  do  you  suppose  Jobe  and  me  would  have  to  go 
to  court  next  week  to  show  cause  why  we  hadent  ort  to  be 
foreclosed? 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"  IN    TOWN." 

WE  are  at  court.     The  case  is  on.      Poor  Jobe,  he  is 
so  worried  and  troubled  and  downhearted  that  he 
dont  seem  to   enthuse  when  the  officeseekin  can- 
derdates  and  polerticians  are  shakin  of  his  hand  and  tellin 
him    that    "we  got   there,    and   are   now   ready  for  '96," 
&c.,  &c. 

Jobe  he  jist  takes  it,  and  says  :    "Is  that  so?" 

Not  one  of  all  them  polerticians  or  canderdate  fellers 
seems  to  know  that  one  of  their  "old  and  respected 
citizens "  is  about  to  be  foreclosed  out  of  house  and 
home.  Not  one  of  them  seems  to  care  if  he  does  know. 
The  leadinest  idea  in  their  minds  is  gittin  office  and 
enthusin  over  the  election.  But  I  notice  some  of  them 
dident  come  near,  but  seem  kinder  cold  toward  Jobe.  I 
spect  they  have  heerd  of  the  foreclosin  and  dont  want  to 
be  seen  in  our  company. 

Well,  we  got  to  town  this  mornin  and  come  strait  to 
court.  I  jist  felt  as  though  the  house  would  fall  on  me  ;  I 
was  so  out  of  place. 

But  them  lawyers  and  fellers  what  okepy  that  field  over 
the  fence  from  the  common  herd,  they  jist  walked  around 
and  whispered,  and  tiptoed,  and  laffed,  as  though  they  was 
raised  right  there  in  that  field  all  their  useless  lives.  Some 
of  them  even  had  nice  tables  to  put  their  feet  on,  and 
carpet  and  soft  cheers  and  sich.  Well,  I  spect  the  poor 
things  were  brought  up  tender  like,  and  it  would  hurt  them 
to  git  along  with  common  things  like  taxpayers  git 
along  on. 

73 


74 


BETSY  CASK  INS,  D1MICRAT. 


'Mr.  Court,   Gaskins  is  here.'  " 


Well,   arter  a  while   the 
judge  come,    and  the   offi- 
cer opened  court. 
Then  the  case  of 
"RICHER,  Plaintiff, 

vs. 

GASKINS,  Defendant," 
was  called. 

I  felt  like  as  if  Ide  faint 
— gone  like. 

The  judge  asked  if  the 
parties  to  the  case  were  in 
court  and  ready  for  trial. 
The  lawyer  for  Con- 
gressman Richer  got  up 
and  said  he  was  "there 
and  ready." 

Then  the  court  called  for  the  "defendant,  Gaskins." 
Poor  Jobe  he  jist  sot    still    and   looked  as  white   as   a 
ghost.      He  never  moved. 

I  hunched  him,  and  told  him  to  "  git  up  and  answer." 
He  said  he  couldent  ;  he  was  sick. 

The  court,  kinder  mad  like,  called  for  "Gaskins"  agin, 
when  I  riz  up  and  says  : 

"  Mistur    Court,     Gaskins    is    here,     and    I    am    Betsy 
Gaskins,  the  lawful  wife  of  Jobe  Gaskins,  the  defendant." 
"Whose  your  lawyer?"  says  the  court. 
"We  haint  got  any,"  says  I. 

"Youd    better  git    counsel,"    says   the   court,    "if  you 
desire  to  contest  this  case." 

"Will  counsel  keep  us  from  bein  foreclosed?"  says  I. 
The  judge  said  the  case  would   be  decided  on  the  law 
and  evidence. 

"Then,"   says   I,    "what  do  we  need  of  counsel?     You 


"IN  TOWN,"  75 

have  the  law,  and  we  will  give  you  the  evidence,  and  if  the 
court  please,  if  our  side  needs  any  pleadin,  He  do  it 
myself." 

I  hadent  them  words  out  of  my  mouth  till  up  jumped 
Mr.  Richer's  lawyer  and  says  : 

"I  'bject." 

The  court  said  that  I  could  not  do  the  pleadin,  as  I  was 
not  a  party  to  the  case,  nor  had  I  a  license  to  practice 
before  the  court. 

I  riz  up  agin. 

"Mistur  Judge,"  says  I,  "what  difference  does  it  make 
who  I  am  or  what  I  am,  so  long  as  I  treat  the  court  with 
respect,  and  know  as  much,  or  nearly  as  much,  about  this 
case  as  any  lawyer  we  could  hire? 

"If  the  case,  Mistur  Judge,  is  to  be  decided  on  the  law 
and  evidence,  and  not  on  the  pleadin,  why  cant  I  do  what 
pleadin  we  need,  as  well  as  some  lawyer?" 

I  sot  down. 

The  judge  looked  at  me  a  minit  over  his  specks. 

"Well,  Mrs.  Gaskins,"  says  he,  "if  we  allowed  any- 
body and  everybody  to  come  into  our  courts  and  represent 
a  neighbor  or  friend,  half  our  lawyers  would  have  nothin 
to  do.  The  law  prohibiting  this  privilege  is  made  so  as  to 
afford  our  attorneys  a  livelihood.  While  it  sometimes 
proves  a  hardship  to  litigants,  it  would  be  a  greater  hard- 
ship on  our  lawyers  if  they  dident  have  sich  a  law  in  their 
favor.  However,  Mrs.  Gaskins,  as  this  is  a  case  of  small 
importance,  if  the  bar  is  willing  I  will  permit  you  to  say 
what  you  desire  in  behalf  of  the  defendant." 

Turin  to  the  lot  of  high-toned  cattle  over  the  fence 
from  us,  says  he  :  "What  do  you  say,  gentlemen?" 

They  kind  a  hemmed  and  hawed  and  whispered  together, 
and  looked  disgusted  and  disappinted  and  contemptible, 
and  finally  one  of  them  says  : 


76 


BETSY  GASKINS.  DIM  1C  RAT. 


\\ 


"We  shant  'bject." 
And  four  or  five  of  em 
got  up  and  left,   lookin 
like  as  if  they  had  lost 
somethin. 

Well,  the  judge  invited 
us  over  into  the  field. 

We  went  in,  and  I  sot 
down  by  a  table.     The 
lawyer    for   Mr.    Richer 
got    up   and   stated   his 
"«I  'bject.'"  case.      He  said  that   he 

would  prove  that  a  number  of  years  ago  one  Jobe  Gaskins 
purchased  from  the  Honorable  D.  M.  J.  Richer  certain  lands 
and  tenements  to  the  value  of  $3,800;  that  there  has  been 
but  $1,700  paid  on  the  amount ;  that  there  remains  due  and 
unpaid  some  $2,100,  which  is  secured  by  mortgage.     And 
he  was  there  to  pray  for  the  foreclosure  of  said  mortgage 
and  sale  of  the  premises  to  satisfy  said  claim. 
He  sot  down. 
I  got  up. 

I  says,  says  I  :  "  Mistur  Judge,  this  here  case  haint 
just  exactly  like  that  there  lawyer  said.  We  claim  there 
haint  no  $2,100  still  due  Mr.  Richer,  although  he  has  our 
notes  and  a  mortgage  for  that  amount.  We  claim  that  he 
has  got  nearly  full  value  for  all  we  got  from  him.  We 
have  paid  him  $1,700  of  the  principal  and  over  $2,200  in 
interest.  The  land,  for  some  cause,  haint  worth  now  as 
much  as  we  paid  for  it,  and  we  expect  to  prove  that  Jobe 
haint  done  anything  to  cause  the  land  to  fall  in  value. 
The  land  may  now  be  worth  $2,500,  if  we  could  find  some 
one  that  had  the  money  and  wanted  to  buy  land.  If  we 
are  foreclosed  and  forced  to  sell  it,  it  may  not  bring  more 
than  the  $2,100  that  he  claims  we  owe  him. 


"IN  TOWN:'  77 

"Now,  we  want  to  be  fair  with  Congressman  Richer, 
Mistur  Judge,  and  all  we  ask  is  that  Mr.  Richer  and  his 
likes  what  lends  money  be  treated  by  the  law  and  the 
courts  the  same  as  Jobe  and  his  likes  what  owes  money  is 
treated. 

"Now,  as  I  said  before,  Mistur  Judge,  the  farm  is  the 
same  size  as  it  was  the  day  we  bought  it  ;  the  land  is  jist  as 
good  ;  the  improvements  are  better.  We  have  paid  Mr. 
Richer  his  interest  every  year  for  sixteen  years,  and  $1,700 
besides. 

"Now,  Mistur  Judge,  wouldent  it  be  fair  for  Mr.  Richer 
to  take  the  farm  back  and  give  us  our  $1,700?  He  would 
have  jist  what  he  had  before  we  bought  it,  and  he  would 
have  $2,212  interest  money  for  the  use  of  it,  and  we  would 
have  the  $1,700  we  have  paid  him  over  and  above  the 
interest. 

"Or,  if  he  dont  want  to  do  that,  Mistur  Judge,  we  will 
value  the  farm  at  $2,500,  which  is  all  or  more  than  its 
worth  to-day,  and  will  pay  him  the  difference  between  the 
$1,700  we  already  have  paid  and  the  $2,500,  or  $800,  in  cash. 

"Now,  Mistur  Judge,  this  would  be  honest  and  fair,  and 
he  can  take  his  choice,  while  if  you  foreclose  us,  and  the 
farm  at  sheriff  sale  only  brings  $2,100,  and  Mr.  Richer 
buys  it  in,  he  will  have  the  farm  he  had  at  fust,  our  $1,700 
principal  and  the  $2,212  interest  money  we  have  paid  him, 
or  he  will  have  the  farm  and  $3,912  in  money,  and  we  in 
our  old  age  will  have  nothin." 

When  I  was  through  the  other  lawyer  got  up  and  said 
sich  argament  was  all  bosh  and  contrary  to  law  ;  that  the 
court  had  too  good  sense  to  be  governed  by  sich  anachristic 
talk  from  a  rattle-brained  woman.  At  that,  it  bein  noon, 
the  court  dismissed  for  dinner,  without  explainin  why  this 
was  "a  case  of  small  importance."  It  looks  to  me  that 
its  a  purty  tolerable  important  case  to  Jobe  and  me. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE    DECISION. 

r  I  ^HAT  day,  when  the  judge  and  lawyers  got  back  from 
dinner,  and  arter  Jobe  and  me  had  eat  our  lunch  in 
the  jury-room,  they  opened  court  agin,  and  the  judge, 
lookin  at  me  tired  like,  says : 

"Mrs.  Gaskins,  the  court  is  now  ready  to  proceed  with 
the  case." 

"So  be  we,  Mistur  Judge,"  says  I. 

So  Congressman  Richer's  lawyer  got  out  a  lot  of  papers 
and  notes,  and,  showin  them  to  Jobe  and  me,  asked  us  if 
we  admitted  signin  of  them. 

"Certainly  we  do,"  says  I. 

So  he  handed  them  to  the  judge,  sayin  that  that  was 
all  the  evidence  he  desired  to  produce,  and  as  the  notes 
had  not  been  paid,  as  stipulated  in  the  mortgage,  he  asked 
to  have  the  mortgage  foreclosed  and  the  property  sold,  and 
judgment  for  costs  rendered  agin  the  defendant. 

At  that  he  sot  down. 

Jobe  he  looked  distressed. 

I  felt  kind  a  gone  like. 

But  when  the  judge  said  that  if  we  had  any  evidence  to 
produce  or  objection  to  make  why  the  mortgage  should 
not  be  foreclosed,  now  was  my  time  to  make  it,  I  jist 
gathered  up  courage  and  says,  says  I  : 

"Mistur  Judge,  we  have  some  evidence  to  offer,  and  I 
want  to  say  a  few  words. 

"We  never  denied  that  we  signed  that  mortgage  and 

78 


79 


"'I  want  to  prove  to  you,   Mistur  Judge.'" 

them  notes;  we  never  claimed  we  had  paid  all  we  did 
sign. 

"Now,  what  I  want  to  prove,  Mistur  Judge,  is,  that  the 
reason  we  haint  paid  more  of  the  notes  was  because  times 
have  been  so  hard,  prices  so  low  and  money  so  scarce  that 
we  jist  couldent  pay  any  more  than  we  have  paid. 

"I  want  to  prove  that  we  have  paid  every  dollar  we 
could  pay,  and  that  we  have  went  naked  and  hungry,  or 
nearly  so,  to  pay  what  we  have  paid. 

"I  want  to  prove,  Mistur  Judge,  that  when  we  bought 
this  farm,  some  sixteen  years  ago,  times  were  better  than 
now  ;  that  farmers  could  sell  what  they  raised  for  more 
than  now  ;  and  I  want  to  prove  that  it  has  not  been  by  any 
act  of  the  farmers  that  times  have  been  made  harder  and 
prices  lower  than  then. 

"I  want  to  prove,  Mistur  Judge,  that  taxes  haint  got 
any  less  ;  that  interest  is  jist  as  high  as  then  ;  that  it  takes 
twice  as  many  bushels  of  wheat  for  Jobe  to  pay  his  share 
of  your  wages,  and  the  wages  of  the  other  officers  in  this 
buildin,  as  it  did  then.  I  want  to  prove  that  Jobe  had  to 
use  wheat  to  pay  you  fellers  that  he  could  have  used 


8o  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

toward  payin  on  them  notes  if  prices  had  staid  up  or 
officers'  pay  had  been  brought  down. 

"I  want  to  show  you  that  all  you  officeholders  have 
helped  to  bring  about  this  condition  by  your  endorsin  of 
men  that  made  laws  to  destroy  the  greenback,  to  demoni- 
tize  silver,  encouragin  high  interest  and  money  monopoly, 
and  by  your  increasin  of  wages  of  officeholders  or  lettiu 
them  remain  the  same  as  they  were  when  wheat  was  high. 

"  I  want  to  prove,  Mistur  Judge,  that  Mr.  Richer  was  one 
of  the  law-makers,  that  he  voted  agin  silver,  and  did  not 
try  to  do  anything  or  to  make  any  law  to  make  money  as 
plenty  as  it  use  to  be. 

"  I  want  to  show  that  Mr.  Richer  already  has  got  all  we 
have  raised  by  our  hard  work  for  the  last  sixteen  years, 
and,  Mistur  Judge,  I  think  that  instid  of  you  sellin  our  farm 
to  satisfy  him,  you  ort  to  order  him  to  give  us  back  all  the 
money  we  have  paid  him,  except  the  interest,  and  let  us 
give  him  back  the  property  we  got  from  him  ;  we  are  willin 
to  do  this,  and  give  him  our  improvements  besides,  if  he 
will  give  us  back  our  $1,700.  This  is  all  we  ask,  Mistur 
Judge. 

"  If  you  grant  it  we  would  have  a  few  dollars  to  keep  us 
in  our  old  age,  and  Mr.  Richer  would  have  all  we  got  from 
him  and  $2,212  interest  money  besides. 

"If  you  foreclose  us,  as  this  high-toned  lawyer  asks 
you  to  do,  we  will  have  nothing  left,  and  Mr.  Richer  will 
have  as  much  as  he  had  before  and  $3,912  of  our  hard- 
earned  money  besides,  part  of  it,  Mistur  Judge,  bein  money 
I  got  from  home  when  father  died. " 

The  judge  kind  a  looked  at  me  pityin  like,  and  says, 
says  he : 

"Mrs.  Gaskins,  your  argament  may  be  all  right  from 
your  point  of  view  ;  but  it  is  not  law,  Mrs.  Gaskins.  //  is 
not  law.  We  must  proceed  according  to  law. " 


/•///-;  DECISIOX. 


81 


"What  is  law?"  says  I.  "  Haint  it  justice?"  pleadin 
like. 

The  judge  studied  a  minit,  cleared  his  throat  a  time  or 
two,  and  then  says  he  : 

"It  is  supposed  to  be,  Mrs.  Gaskins.  //  is  supposed  to 
be.  It  should  be  justice  ;  it  should  be.  I  appreciate  the 
position  of  you  two  old  people.  I  believe,  as  you  say,  that 
you  have  worked  hard  and  saved  that  you  might  get  your 
farm  paid  for  and  have  a  home  in  your  old  age.  I  believe 
you  have  done  all  you  could  do.  Your  argament  has  been 
well  made. 


"  'This  is  the  law,  whether  it  is  justice  or  not.'  " 

"But  the  law — the  law,  Mrs.  Gaskins,  says  that  if  these 
notes  have  not  been  paid  according  to  the  provision  of  the 
mortgage,  it  can  be  foreclosed. 

"Even  if  you  had  paid  all  of  the  notes  but  one  dollar, 
and  had  worked  fifty  years  to  pay  them,  and  for  some 
reason  money  had  become  scarce,  and  your  farm  under 
forced  sale  would  not  bring  more  than  the  one  dollar,  it 
would  have  to  be  sold,  under  the  law,  to  satisfy  that  one 
dollar  still  due  on  it. 

"To  make  it  plainer  to  you,  Mrs.  Gaskins,  suppose  that 
all  the  money  was  demonitized  or  destroyed  except  gold 


82 


BETSY  GASK1NS,  DIMICRAT. 


"Jobe  and  me  sot  there  dazed  like." 

or  silver  (no  matter  which),  and  suppose  that  one  man  had 
succeeded  in  getting  possession  of  all  the  money,  and  you 
owed  one  dollar  on  a  farm  that  had  cost  you  $3,800,  you 
would  have  to  get  that  one  dollar  from  the  man  who  had 
it,  and  he  could  place  his  own  estimate  of  value  on  it,  and 
could,  if  he  so  desired,  demand  120  acres  of  good  farm  land 
for  one  of  his  dollars,  and,  in  case  of  forced  sale  under  the 
law,  all  the  property  you  have  would  have  to  be  sacrificed 
to  satisfy  that  one  dollar.  It  would  have  to  be  done,  even 
though  that  one  man  who  had  all  the  money  cornered 
owned  your  mortgage  and  had  made  the  law,  or  got  it 
made,  that  destroyed  all  the  other  money.  So  this,  Mrs. 
Gaskins,  is  the  law,  whether  it  is  justice  or  not,  and  I,  as 
the  judge  of  this  court,  must  be  governed  by  the  law  as  it 
is.  All  the  testimony  you  have  mentioned  is  not  such  as 
could  be  admitted  before  this  court.  Hence  I  shall  render 
judgment  as  prayed  for  by  the  plaintiff,  with  costs  of  this 
action  attached." 


THE    DECISION.  83 

I  wanted  to  say  some  more,  but  the  judge  told  me  the 
case  was  over,  and  that  I  need  not  say  any  more. 

So  Jobe  and  me  sot  there  dazed  like  for  a  little  while. 
Then  the  sheriff  come  to  us  and  said  the  case  was  over  and 
we  had  better  go  home.  We  got  up  and  come  home. 

We  have  been  over  the  dear  old  farm  half  a  dozen  times, 
so  as  to  carry  its  memory  in  our  minds  to  wherever  we  shall 
go.  Oh!  how  queer  I  feel  when  I  wonder  where  that  will  be. 

Jobe  is  jist  a  mopin  around  with  no  life  in  him  at  all. 

I  haint  heerd  him  holler  for  McKinley  since  we  got  back 
from  court. 

I  wonder  if  Mr.  McKinley,  and  Mark  Hanna,  and  Henry 
Flagler,  of  the  Standard  Oil  Trust,  and  Mr.  Kohlsaat,  and 
them  other  millionairs  what  has  been  down  in  Georgia 
schemin  and  plannin  and  arrangin  to  git  Mr.  McKinley 
elected  to  the  president's  office,  want  to  git  him  elected  so 
as  to  make  it  easier  for  Jobe  and  his  likes  to  pay  for  their 
homes. 

I  wonder  if  the  laws  they  are  wantin  to  git  made,  or  keep 
from  bein  made,  is  to  make  themselves  richer  or  to  make 
the  life  of  the  fellers  who  vote  the  ticket  they  fix  up  easier. 

Them  millionair  fellers  seem  to  take  a  great  interest  in 
elections  and  things. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


JOBE  CHEERS    UP. 

JOBE'S  aunt  Jane  out  in  Indyana  is  dead.     The  poor, 
dear  soul  worked   hard  all    her  life,    and  now  she  is 
dead.     She  had  been  takin  care  of  a  rich  inverlid  for 
some  twelve  years,  and  got  two  dollars  a  week  for  all  that 
time.    By  livin  plain  and  not  goin  anywhere  for  all  that  time, 
she  has  saved  $563,  and  she  has  left  all  her  savins  to  Jobe, 
her  only  kin,  the  lawyers  out  there  write  us. 

We  got  a  letter  from  them  last  week  sayin  she  had 
died  of  a  suddent,  and  left  Jobe  all  she 
had,  arter  payin  her  buryin  expenses. 
Jobe  has  been  more  like  hisself, 
ever  since  he  heerd  she  was  dead,  than 
he  has  been  for  some  time. 

He  now  says  that  if  he  lives  to  vote 
for  McKinley  it  will  be  the  happiest 
moment  of  his  life.  I  hope  Jobe  will 
live. 

As  soon  as  he  got  that  letter  he 
started  out  agin  to  try  to  borrow 
enough  money  to  pay  off  Mr.  Richer's 
mortgage  before  foreclosin  day.  He 
found  one  banker  at  Canal  Dover 
who  said  he  would  let  him  have  $1,800 

at  seven  per  cent,  interest,  jist  to  commodate  Jobe.  Jobe  is 
a  goin  to  take  it,  which,  with  what  he  is  to  git  as  his  dead 
aunt's  heir,  will  make  the  money  Congressman  Richer  is 
wantin  so  bad,  and  a  little  besides. 

Jobe  went  to  town  yisterday  to  try  to  stop  the  foreclosin 


Aunt  Jane. 


JOBE  CHEERS  UP. 


"He  would  call  him  'Billy,'  in  honor  of  the  next  president." 

bizness  until  our  legicy  money  comes  and  we  can  git  the 
other  from  the  bank  at  Canal  Dover. 

They  told  him  down  to  the  court-house  that  they  would 
try  to  "stave  it  off." 

Jobe  said  that  when  the  report  got  out  that  he  was 
about  to  git  a  legicy  everybody  wanted  to  shake  hands 
with  him  and  be  friendly  like. 

Even  them  canderdate  fellers,  what  acted  kind  a  cold 
durin  our  foreclosin  trial,  come  around  smilin,  Jobe  said, 
and  shook  hands,  and  said  that  "they  knode  it  would 
come  around  all  right,"  that  "a  man  never  loses  anything 
by  votin  the  strait  ticket."  They  told  Jobe  to  "cheer 
up  and  git  ready  for  the  next  election,"  and  all  sich  stuff. 
Jobe  he  come  home  declarin  that  the  Republican  party 
was  the  "grand  old  party"  of  the  universe,  he  was  so 
puffed  up  like. 


86 


BETSY  G A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


Last  night  I  actually  heerd  him  whistlin  one  of  them 
campaign  tunes,  while  he  was  a  feedin  of  the  calf.  When 
the  calf  got  all  the  milk  out  of  the  bucket  and  looked  up 
at  Jobe  lovin  like,  Jobe  patted  him  on  the  head  and  told 
him  he  was  a  nice  feller  and  looked  so  knowin,  like 
McKinley,  that  he  would  call  him  "Billy,"  in  honor  of 
the  next  president. 

Jobe  then  started  to  the  house  a  whistlin  agin,  when 
William  came  at  him  stiff-legged,  and  struck  Jobe  on  them 
election  patches  I  put  on  his  pants,  and  knocked  Jobe 
down  ou  his  hands  and  knees,  and  before  Jobe  could  git 


"Before  Jobe  could  git  up  William  hit  him  agin." 

up,  William  hit  him  agin,  knockin  him  clear  down.  Jobe 
turned  over  on  his  back  and  begin  to  strike  at  McKinley 
with  the  bucket,  sayin,  "You  dum  rascal,"  or  somethin  like 
that.  He  then  clamered  to  his  feet  and  took  arter  the  calf, 
kickin  as  hard  as  he  could  kick.  The  second  kick  he 
missed  the  calf  and  fell.  Then  I  hollered  at  him. 

He  got  up,  put  his  hand  on  his  hip  and  limped  to  the 
house.  When  he  come  in  says  he  : 

"He  kill  that  dum  calf  if  he  ever  acts  that  way  agin. 
He  like  to  a  broke  my  hip." 

"Why,  Jobe,"  says,  I,    "dident   I   jist  hear  you  namin 


JOBE  CHEERS  UP.  87 

him  for  the  leadinest  Republican  of  the  State?  Dont  you 
know  he  was  jist  a  givin  you  a  practical  lesson  in  poler- 
ticks?  Dont  be  mad,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "youle  be  a  lovin  him 
tomorrow  with  all  your  heart." 

At  that  Jobe  went  into  the  room  to  git  the  bottle  of  sal- 
vation oil,  mutterin  somethin  as  he  went  about  me  not 
havin  any  sense. 

Now,  isent  it  a  fact  that  the  polerticians  and  office- 
holders have  been  actin  like  that  bull  calf  toward  Jobe  and 
his  likes  for  years? 

Haint  they  been  lookin  into  the  face  of  the  taxpayers 
pleasin  like  jist  before  every  election?  Haint  they  been 
buttin  the  life  out  of  the  people  that  feed  them  by 
increasin  salaries,  and  makin  taxes  higher,  and  sellin  out  to 
rich  trusts  and  sich,  ever  since  the  war? 

Haint  they  made  law  on  law  agin  the  poor  and  for  the 
rich? 

Haint  they  issued  bonds  on  top  of  bonds,  to  the  rich 
people  and  on  the  poor? 

Haint  they  raised  salary  arter  salary  of  officeholders 
when  the  people  never  asked  it? 

Haint  they  brought  us  to  a  gold  basis  and  made  it  hard 
for  people  to  pay  interest  and  mortgages? 

Haint  they  made  it  easy  for  the  money-lender  to  foreclose 
agin  the  borrower? 

Haint  they  destroyed  millions  and  millions  of  the  peo- 
ple's greenback  money? 

Haint  they  demonitized  silver? 

Haint  they  done  everything  agin  the  people  and  nothin 
for  them? 

And  what  has  the  people  to  show  for  all  the  money  they 
have  destroyed,  and  salaries  they  have  increased,  and 
mortgages  they  have  foreclosed,  and  bad  laws  they  have 
made,  but  hard  times  and  debts,  and  people  without  homes, 


88 


BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


and  cheap  wheat,  and  low  wages,  and  high  interest,  and 
big  taxes,  and  foreclosin,  and  beggin,  and  the  Lord  only 
knows  what  all? 

Yet  Jobe  and  his  likes  will  vote  the  strait  ticket,  and  I 
suppose  will  keep  a  votin  it  until  the  bull  calf  knocks 
their  brains  out. 

What  has  Jobe  and  his  likes  got  to  show  for  all  the  votin 
they  have  voted?  What,  I  say! 

If  we  can  save  our  farm,  and  if  we  raise  enough  to  pay 
the  interest  and  taxes  this  year,  and  a  little  besides,  I  am 
a  goin  to  git  me  a  pair  of  them  bloomers  and  go  to  workin 
and  votin  for  more  good  laws  and  less  polerticks  ;  and  the 
fust  polertician  that  comes  around  our  house  talkin  "party 
success"  and  "  party  principles  "  He  kick  clear  into  the 
middle  of  the  big  road — He  do  it  if  I  split  them  bloomers 
from  waistband  to  waistband  in  doin  so. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A    NEW    MORTGAGE. 

WE  was  that  bizzy  last  week,  with  gittin  our  legicy 
and  payin  of  costs,  and  a  borrowin  of  money,  and 
a  writin  of  papers,  and  a  signin  of  our  names,  and 
a  swearin  to  this,  that  and  the  other  thing,  that  I  dident 
git  my  bakin  done,  let  alone  do  any  writin. 

The  fust  of  last  week  we  got  our  share  of  our  legicy  ; 
the  officers  in  Indyana  got  the  balance. 

Howsomever,  what  we  did  git  eome  handy  for  a  while 
anyhow. 

I  dont  know  what  we  would  have  done  if  Jobe's  poor, 
dear  dead  aunt  hadent  a  died  jist  when  she  did. 

Well,  when  what  was  left  us,  arter  payin  them  Indyana 
fellers,  come,  Jobe  and  me  hitched  up  old  Tom  and  struck 
out  for  town  to  stop  the  foreclosin  bizness. 

We  fust  went  to  the  bank  at  Canal  Dover,  and  made 
arrangements  to  borrow  $1,800  at  seven  per  cent.  Jobe  he 
hung  for  six  per  cent.,  but  when  the  banker  explained  to 
Jobe  that  we  was  now  on  a  gold  basis;  that  McKinley  had 
come  out  for  a  strait  gold  basis  platform  ;  that  he  could 
lend  all  the  money  he  could  git  at  seven  per  cent,  or  more, 
and  that  all  the  leadin  financiers  and  bankers,  in  fact  all 
the  leadin  citizens,  were  in  for  a  gold  basis,  Jobe  he 
"saw  it"  and  agreed  to  seven. 

Comin  home  Jobe  told  me  he  would  ruther  pay  seven 
per  cent,  than  six,  in  order  to  support  a  "sound  money 
basis;"  that  "  nobody  believed  in  small  interest  but  them 
crazy  Populists  and  their  likes." 

89 


go 


BETSY  G A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"  He  would  rather  pay  seven  per  cent,  than  six,  in  order  to 
support  a  sound  money  basis." 

Well,  arter  we  arranged  for  the  money  we  went  to  the 
court-house,  and  from  the  time  we  got  there  till  I  got  out 
I  heerd  nothin  but  "costs,"  "costs,"  "costs."  They  had 
it  all  charged  to  Jobe.  Not  one  cent  was  charged  to  Mr. 
Richer.  There  was  the  clerk's  costs,  and  the  sheriff's  costs, 
and  the  auditor's  costs,  and  the  judge's  costs,  and  supeena 
costs,  and  writ  costs,  and  mileage  costs,  and  the  Lord  only 
knows  what  all  or  who  all  had  costs  charged  up  agin  Jobe. 
The  very  fellers  Jobe  had  helped  to  elect  had  jist  as  big 
bills  charged  up  as  the  law  would  allow,  and  some  bigger, 
and  nary  one  of  them  was  willin  to  knock  off  a  cent.  We 
had  to  pay  it  or  be  foreclosed,  and  we  had  to  take  our 
legicy  money  to  pay  it  with — the  money  that  poor,  dear, 
dead  Aunt  Jane  had  worked  so  hard  to  save. 

Well,  when  we  got  the  costs  all  paid,  we  then  begin  to 
draw  up  papers,  and  sign  and  acknowledge,  and  read  and 
reread  of  papers,  to  git  the  money  from  the  Canal  Dover 
banker. 

One  feller  told  Jobe  and  the  other  fellers  to  go  out  of 
the  room  till  he  examined  me  seperate  and  apart,  at  which 
I  became  insulted  and  up  and  says,  says  I  : 

"No,  you  wont,  sir  ;  no  man  will  examine  me  seperate  and 


A   NEW  MORTGAGE. 


apart  or  any  other 
way  in  the  absence 
of  Jobe  Gaskins." 

"The  law  re- 
quires it,"  says  he. 

"Law  or  no  law," 
says  I,  "  He  not 
submit.  I  have  sub- 
mitted to  law  in- 
stid  of  justice;  Ive 
submitted  to  law 
instid  of  right  ;  Ive 
submitted  to  law 
instid  of  humanity, 
but  when  it  comes 
to  submittin  to  law 


"'Law  or  no  law,'  says  I." 


instid  of  decency,  Betsy  Gaskins  demurs." 

But  arter  they  explained  that  he  jist  wanted  to  read  and 
explain  the  mortgage  to  me,  I  even  submitted  to  law  agin. 

When  they  was  all  out,  the  feller  read  the  mortgage  to 
me,  and  asked  me  if  the  signin  of  it  was  my  "  free  act  and 
deed."  I  told  him  it  was  so  fur  as  I  had  to  sign  it  to  keep 
from  bein  foreclosed,  but  that  I  would  not  sign  it  as  it 
then  read. 

"Whats  wrong?"  says  he. 

"The  wrong,"  says  I,  "  is  where  it  says  that  Jobe  shall 
pay  the  'principal  and  interest  in  gold.'  " 

I  explained  to  him  that  Jobe  and  me  hadent  had  ten 
dollars  in  gold  for  j'ears  and  years. 

But  he  said  it  was  only  a  form  ;  that  we  was  now  on  a 
gold  basis,  and  the  bank  requires  all  their  mortgages  to 
read,  "payable,  principal  and  interest,  in  gold,"  since  we 
have  come  to  a  gold  basis. 

But  I  wouldent  sign  it,  and  the  feller  called  Jobe  and  the 


92  A  NEW  MORTGAGE. 

other  fellers  in.  Jobe  he  got  mad  at  me  and  scolded  and 
fretted  around  until  I  got  ashamed  of  him,  and  I  jist  up 
and  says,  says  I: 

"lie  sign  it,  Mr.  Gaskins,  but  you  will  find  that  payin 
seven  per  cent,  interest  and  payin  it  in  gold  to  keep  your 
party  in  power  is  up-hill  bizness." 

So  I  signed  it.     But  the  Lord  only  knows  where  we  will 


"  'Payin  it  in  gold  to  keep  your  party  in  power  is  up-hill 
bizness.'  " 

git  the  gold  to  pay  even  the  interest  with.  We  have  to 
pay  the  interest  every  six  months. 

Ive  lived  on  this  farm  for  nigh  onto  seventeen  years,  and 
have  never  found  a  piece  of  gold  as  big  as  a  pin-head. 
Maybe  Jobe  knows  where  it  is.  I  dont,  goodness  knows. 

Well,  arter  the  signin  was  done  there  was  some  more 
charges  and  sich  to  pay  for,  and  Jobe  had  it  to  pay.  Then, 
arter  requestin  Jobe  to  look  arter  his  party's  interests  in 
our  township,  they  bid  us  good-by,  and  JoBe  and  me 
come  home. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

JOBE,   OUT    OF    TROUBLE,    IS   UNRULY    AGAIN. 

JOBE  he  is  jist  as  contrary  and  stiff-necked  as  he  ever 
was.  He  acts  as  though  he  had  never  went  through 
what  he  has  went  through  since  last  Noo  Years.  He 
is  beginnin  agin  to  act  towards  me  as  if  I  was  his  inferior  ; 
as  though  it  wasent  me  who  stuck  up  for  him  and  fought 
his  battles  in  time  of  trouble — yes,  stood  by  him  when  all 
creation,  office-seekin  canderdates  and  all,  had  forsook  him. 

He  now  says  the  reason  he  did  not  pay  off  that  other 
mortgage  years  ago  was  because  it  wasent  made  "payable 
in  gold;"  he  says  he  believes  in  payin  debts  in  "sound 
money,"  and  that  he  now  feels  sorry  that  he  dident  git 
gold  and  pay  what  he  did  pay  on  it;  that  he  feels" as 
though  he  has  cheated  Mr.  Richer  by  payin  him  in  green- 
backs and  silver  and  sich. 

He  says  that  he  would  ruther  pay  seven  per  cent, 
interest  in  gold  than  six  per  cent,  interest  in  paper  money 
or  silver. 

Then  he  gits  up  and  swells  out  his  boozum,  and  says  : 

"John  Sherman  is  the  greatest  financier  on  airth.  He 
has  brought  us  to  a  gold  basis  quicker  than  any  other  livin 
man  could  a  done  it.  He  has  taught  old  Cleveland  all  he 
knows  about  sound  money."  And  so  forth  and  so  forth. 

He  goes  on  in  this  way  day  in  and  day  out  until  I  am  sick 
and  tired  of  it.  He  even  wants  me  to  come  out  and  be  a 
Republican,  when  he  knows  I  have  been  a  Dimicrat  for 
nigh  onto  thirty-five  years. 

When  he  is  tellin  the  neighbors  about  how  much  better 

93 


94  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

it  is  to  pay  debts  in  gold,  and  about  us  a  givin  a  "gold 
mortgage  "  to  the  banker,  he  always  calls  it  his  mort- 
gage and  his  doins.  He  never  even  mentions  my  name 
when  speakin  of  the  mortgage,  when  he  knows  as  well  as 
I  do  that  both  the  old  parties,  as  it  were,  made  that  gold 
mortgage,  and  that  it  is  "our  mortgage"  and  "our  doins" 
that  made  it. 

But  that  is  the  way  with  Jobe.  As  long  as  everything  is 
goin  along  without  trouble  he  wants  all  the  glory ;  but  as 
soon  as  trouble  arises  he  tries  to  blame  me  for  gittin  him 
in  it,  and  calls  on  me  for  help. 

Now,  as  Betsy  Gaskins,  I  am  ashamed  of  that  gold 
mortgage,  and  if  I  could  have  had  my  way  I  never  would 
have  signed  it.  Ide  a  dide  fust.  But  as  a  Dimicrat  I 
must  approve  it,  to  be  in  line  with  my  party,  and  I  think 
Jobe  is  mean  that  he  dont  speak  of  it  as  "our  mortgage  " 
and  "our  doins,"  when  he  knows  the  highest  paid  Dimi- 
crats  in  the  land  is  jist  as  much  in  favor  of  "gold  mort- 
gages "  as  John  Sherman  or  Mistur  McKinley  or  any  high-up 
Republicans  are. 

Haint  Mistur  Carlisle,  who  is  drawin  $8,000  a  year  (for 
work  he  ort  a  be  a  doin  in  the  money  department  at 
Washington),  spendin  lots  of  time  makin  speeches  for 
gold  mortgages  down  in  Kaintuckey? 

Haint  Carlisle  a  Dimicrat? 

Dont  Mistur  Cleveland  set  up  of  nites  and  write  letters 
favorin  "  gold  mortgages,"  and  some  nites  like  as  not  lets 
Mrs.  Cleveland  sleep  all  by  herself? 

What  more  has  John  Sherman  done,  or  McKinley? 

Jobe  thinks  because  McKinley  has  spent  all  spring  out- 
side of  Ohio,  talkin  "gold  mortgages"  and  workin  to  git 
elected  to  the  best  payin  office  in  the  country,  that  he  is 
intitled  to  all  the  credit  for  bringin  about  "gold  mort- 
gages." Now,  I  dont  believe  it,  though  he  was  so  bizzy 


JOBE,  OUT  OF  TROUBLE,  IS  UNRULY  AGAIN* 


95 


"  'John  Sherman  is  the  great- 
est financier  on  airth.'  " 


at  it  that  he  had  to  have  his  salary 
as  governor  sent  to  him  by  mail 
for  months. 

Suppose  my  dream  was  true, 
and  instid  of  us  havin  to  give  the 
banker  a  mortgage  drawin  seven 
per  cent,  interest  ("interest  and 
principal  payable  in  gold"),  that 
we,  that  is,  Jobe  and  me,  could 
have  gone  to  the  county  treasurer 
of  Tuscarawas  County  and  a  bor- 
rowed the  same  amount  of  paper 
and  silver  money  (the  same  kind 
we  got  from  the  bank)  at  two 
per  cent,  interest,  payable  in  any 
money  of  the  government.  Who  would  it  a  hurt? 

Wouldent  it  a  been  better  for  Jobe  and  me?  Wouldent 
we  a  had  only  $36  a  year  interest  to  pay  to  the  county 
instid  of  $126  in  gold  to  the  bankers?  Wouldent  we  a 
had  more  money  to  pay  toward  our  home  or  to  buy  store 
goods  with? 

If  we  could  spend  $90  a  year  for  store  goods  that  we 
now  have  to  pay  as  interest,  wouldent  that  help  the  store- 
keepers a  little? 

Which  would  be  the  best  for  the  storekeepers,  for  Jobe 
and  his  likes  to  have  to  pay  high  interest  in  gold,  or  low 
interest  in  any  kind  of  good  money? 

There  is  another  question  I  would  like  to  ask  you. 

It  is  this  :  If  the  pay  of  the  post-offices  is  big  enough  to 
pay  a  feller  to  buy  them  from  Congressmen,  and  pay  big 
money  for  them,  haint  it  about  time  that  the  pay  of  such 
post-offices  was  cut  down? 

Why  is  a  feller's  time  what  is  glad  to  clear  $300  or  $400 


96  BETSY  G  A  SKINS  >  DIMICRAT. 

a  year  doin  anything  else  worth  $1,500  or  $2,000  for  keepin 
the  post-office? 

Does  it  hurt  their  character  so  much?  And  why  is  it 
that  all  them  fellers  what  sells  post-offices,  and  most  of  them 
what  buys  em,  favor  a  gold  basis  and  gold  mortgages 
and  sich? 

Are  they  afraid  they  will  have  to  go  back  to  their  old 
jobs  and  less  pay  if  they  dont  holler  as  the  big  fellers 
holler? 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

JOBE    IS    SCARED. 

JOBE  he  is  in  a  critical  condition.  Day  before  yisterday, 
when  Jake  Stiffler  brought  our  mail  out  from  town — 
it  consisted  of  the  two  noosepapers  that  we  have  took 
for  years,  that  is,  the  Ohio  Dimicrat  and  the  Tuscarawas 
Advercate — I  played  a  trick  on  Jobe  that  nearly  cost  him 
his  life,  and  nearly  made  me  a  weepin  and  mournin  widder. 

For  years  and  years  we  have  took  them  two  "stanch 
and  substantial  "  noosepapers  without  ceasin.  We  have 
took  them  simply  because  one  was  a  Dimicrat  paper  and 
the  other  a  Republican.  We  have  took  them  when  payin 
for  them  kept  me  from  gittin  a  new  dress  or  Jobe  a  change 
of  pants. 

We  have  took  them  though  clurin  all  them  years  they 
have  said  the  same  things  over  and  over  agin,  aginst  each 
other  and  aginst  the  party  they  wasent,  jist  at  the  time, 
gittin  any  campaign  money  or  county  printin  from. 

The  Dimicrat  has  allers  called  the  Republicans  rascals 
and  sich,  and  the  Advercate  never  fails  to  show  how  the 
Dimicrats  are  worse  still. 

Always,  when  the  Advercate  comes,  Jobe  he  sets  down 
and  reads  out  loud  all  the  abuse  agin  the  Dimicrats  ;  then, 
lookin  over  his  specks  at  me,  says  : 

"Now,  Betsy,  you  see  what  kind  of  a  party  you  belong 
to.  You  see  now  what  kind  of  leaders  youve  got,"  &c.,  &c. 

Its  a  regular  thing  for  Jobe  to  read  the  same  things 
week  arter  week  and  then  to  criticise  me  and  the  Dimicrat 
party  time  arter  time,  until  for  years  Ive  been  in  the 

97 


9« 


BETSY  GASKINS.  DIMICRAT. 


'"Now,  Betsy,  you  see  what  kind  of  a  party  you  belong  to. '" 

habit  of  goin  in  and  settin  down  and  a  listenin  to  Jobe 
read  the  Advercate's  abuse  of  the  Dimicrats,  and  a  waitin 
for  my  regular  weekly  tongue-lashin.  Ive  done  it  jist  for 
the  good  it  seems  to  do  Jobe. 

Sometimes  to  answer  him  I  jist  read  from  the  Ohio 
Dimicrat  the  same  things  he  has  read  from  the  Advercate — 
only  where  the  Advercate  says  "the  Dimicrat  party,"  the 
Dimicrat  says  "the  Republican  party." 

Then  Jobe  will  flare  up  and  say  : 

"The  Ohio  Dimicrat  is  adum  dirty  sheet,  and  full  of  lies." 

He  knows  that  I  dont  swear  and  wont  say  that 
about  his  Advercate,  even  if  I  know  it  is  the  same  kind  of  a 
paper  as  the  Ohio  Dimicrat  is,  except  in  the  name  at  the 
top  of  the  fust  page.  Of  course  it  gits  its  campaign  money 
and  public  printin  from  the  office-seekin  canderdate  fellers 
of  the  other  party. 

Now,  when  J^ake  brought  them  papers,  I  happened  to 
pick  up  the  Advercate  (a  thing  I  seldom  do),  and  one  of 


JOBE  IS  SCARED.  gg 

the  fust  things  I  read  was  a  article  a  praisin  Mr.  Cleve- 
land for  workin  to  git  a  "gold  basis"  and  "gold  mort- 
gages "  and  sich.  I  was  so  surprised  to  find  a  word  of  praise 
for  a  Dimicrat  president  in  a  Republican  noosepaper  that  I 
looked  twice  at  the  headin  to  make  sure  it  was  the  Adver- 
cate  I  had  instid  of  the  Dimicrat.  Sure  enough  it  was  the 
Advercate,  but  I  dont  want  you  to  blame  Editure  Mcllvaine 
for  sich  a  article  appearin  in  his  paper.  He  couldent  help 
it.  It  was  in  that  part  of  his  paper  that  he  dont  print. 
It  was  in  the  patent  part  what  is  printed  in  Cleveland — 
the  part,  you  know,  which  them  fellers  down  east,  the 
fellers  what  gits  rich  by  havin  on  this  gold  basis  bizness, 
pays  to  have  in  all  papers,  Dimicrat,  Republican,  Method- 
ist, Prisbyterian  or  an}'  other  kind  except  them  howlin 
Populist  papers.  Them  Populists  seem  to  be  so  sot  agin 
that  "gold  basis,"  and  a  "  contractin  of  the  money  to 
make  it  scarce  and  hard  to  git,"  that  they  wont  put  any- 
thing a  favorin  the  "gold  basis"  in  their  papers  for  love 
or  money.  They  are  jist  that  mean. 

So  I  dont  want  you  to  blame  Mr.  Mcllvaine  or  any  other 
feller  for  sich  articles  a  bein  in  their  papers.  They  cant 
help  it.  They  jist  have  to  do  it  or  lose  their  rich  money- 
lendin  friends. 

But  the  feelin  I  felt  when  I  seed  sich  a  article  in  a 
Republican  noosepaper  prompted  me  to  do  the  thing  that, 
as  I  said  afore,  nearly  made  me  a  weepin  widder. 

I  jist  thought  Ide  have  some  fun  with  Jobe. 

So  I  went  to  work  and  cut  the  headin  off  from  last  week's 
Tuscarawas  Advercate  and  pasted  it  over  the  headin  of  this 
week's  Ohio  Dimicrat.  Then  I  cut  the  headin  out  of  last 
week's  Ohio  Dimicrat  and  pasted  it  on  this  -week's  Advercate. 
I  then  folded  the  papers  up  nice  like  and  laid  them  on  the 
table  in  the  settin-room,  where  I  had  laid  them  week  arter 
week  for  near  onto  fifteen  years. 


TOO 


BETSY  GAS  KINS,  D /MIC RAT. 


Arter  supper,  when 
Jobe  had  his  chores  all 
clone  up,  he  says,  as  he 
come  in  from  the  barn  : 
"  Betsy,  has  the  mail 
come?" 

A  question  that  he 
has  asked  about  that 
hour,  on  that  same  daj' 
of  the  week,  fifty-two 
times  a  year  for  these 
many  years.  The  mail 
alluded  to  meanin  the 
Tuscarawas  Advercate. 
I  told  Jobe,  as  usual, 
that  it  was  in  on  the 
table.  He  took  his 
specks  down  off  the 
kitchen  mantel,  and, 
wipin  them  as  he  went 
on  the  corner  of  his  coat  tail,  approached  the  table. 

He  sot  down,  rared  back  in  his  split-bottom  rockin  cheer, 
put  his  feet  on  another,  then  picked  up  the  Ohio  Dimicrat 
(with  its  name  changed),  and  begin  to  read,  as  he  expected, 
Editure  Mcllvaine's  slaughter  of  Dimocracy. 
It  started  out  with  : 

"There  never  was  a  more  corrupt  gang  in  control  of  any 
State    government     than     the     Republican     boodlers     at 
Columbus." 
Then  : 

"Every  Republican  officeholder  in  this  county  seems  to 
exist  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  suck  the  life-blood  out 
of  our  hard-working  tax-payers.  We  must  turn  the  rascals 
out." 

And  so  on  and  so  on,  clear  through  the  paper.     Jobe  he 


1  So  I  went  to  work  and  cut  out  the 
headin." 


102  BETSY  GASKINS,  DiMICRAT. 

read  a  minit  or  so ;  then  looked  at  the  name  of  the  paper ; 
then  read  another  item ;  looked  at  the  top  of  his  paper 
agin  ;  took  off  his  specks ;  rubbed  them  hard;  put  them  on 
and  read,  or  started  to  read,  another  item ;  laid  the  paper 
down ;  got  up  and  went  to  the  lookin  glass ;  stuck  out  his 
tongue  and  shook  his  head  in  a  troubled  manner ;  then 
he  felt  his  pulse,  shook  his  head  agin  and  fell  over  on  the 
lounge  that  was  near  him.  He  groaned  once  or  twice,  then 
hollered,  "Betsy,  Betsy!"  dyin  like. 

I  went  a  hurryin  in.  There  he  laid  as  white  as  a  ghost, 
and  drawin  short,  quick  breaths. 

"Why,  Jobe,  dear,"  says  I,  pleadin  like,  "what  on 
airth  is  the  matter?" 

"  It  is  all  over,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "all  over;  Ime  a  goin 
to  die.  The  end  is  near.  Betsy,  Ive  tried  to  be  a  good 
husband,  but  at  times  I  know  Ive  been  a  little  cross  and 
contrary.  Betsy,  I  want  to  hear  you  say  you  forgive  me 
before  I  go." 

"Why,  Jobe, "says  I,  "what  in  the  world  is  the  matter?" 

"  Oh,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "  the  end  is  near.  I  know  it  is. 
Editure  Mcllvaine  is  changed,  or  my  mind  is  shattered. 
My  mind  is  so  onbalanced  that  I  can  no  longer  read  my 
paper  and  understand  it,  or  the  leopard  has  changed  his 
spots.  Betsy,  its  me.  It  must  be  me,  for  where  my  paper 
has  been  praisin,  it  is  now  abusin  ;  and  where  it  has  been 
abusin,  it  is  now  praisin.  Betsy,  I  want  to  die.  I  want 
to  die  a  believin  that  its  me  and  not  the  Advercate  that 
has  changed.  You  must  do  the  best  you  can,  Betsy  ;  and 
if  you  marry  agin  arter  Ime  gone,  remember  my  last  wish 
is  that  you  do  not  marry  one  of  them  wild  Populists. 
Betsy,  will  you  promis?"  says  he. 

At  that  I  began  to  laf  out  loud,  as  hard  as  I  could  laf. 

"Oh  my!  oh  my!"  says  Jobe.  "Is  my  wife  crazy  or  do 
my  eyes  deceive  me  agin?" 


JOSE  75  SCARED. 


103 


I  took  holt  of  him  and  jerked  him  off  the  lounge,  sayin  : 
"Here!  git  up  and  have  some  sense.  That  is  all  the 
truth  you  read  in  your  paper  to-nite.  The  office-seekers 
of  both  parties  are  corrupt,  and  if  the  papers  were 
honest  they  would  say  so.  Neither  of  them  dare  tell 
how  the  people  have  been  betrayed,  and  so  they  fill  up 


"That  nite  he  slept  in  the  barn." 

their  columns   with  abusin  the  party  they  dont  happen  to 
belong  to." 

Then  I  explained  what  I  had  done,  and  he  jumped  to  his 
feet  and  swore  awfully.  That  nite  he  slept  in  the  barn,  and 
for  the  second  time  in  her  married  life  Betsy  Gaskins  slept 
alone.  Jobe  is  still  critical  and  sleepin  in  the  barn. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

JOBE    SLEEPS    IN    THE    BARN. 

IF  Ide  a  knode  that  Ide  a  had  to  went  through  what  Ive 
went  through  since  I  last  writ,  I  would  have  been  a 
old  maid  longin  for  some  one  to  love,  and  some  one 
to  love  me  in  return,  instid  of  bein  the  tormented  wife  of 
Jobe  Gaskins,  Esquire,  as  I  am  to-day. 

From  the  time  Jobe  come  in  from  the  barn,  the  next 
morn  in  arter  nearly  dyin  over  the  Advercate's  change  of 
abuse,  to  this  hour,  the  two  old  parties  has  been  on  the 
outs  ;  and  instid  of  gittin  better,  things  are  gittin  wuss. 

The  Lord  only  knows  what  it  will  lead  to.      I  dont. 

That  mornin,  about  breakfast  time,  he  come  a  bouncin 
into  the  house  all  of  a  suddent,  while  I  was  a  puttin  some 
corn  cakes  in  the  skillet,  and,  shakin  his  fist  in  my  face, 
says,  says  he : 

"Betsy  Gaskins,  youve  got  to  take  it  back.  Take  it 
back  or  He — He  smash  you,"  makin  a  motion  towards  me, 
and,  with  his  hair  all  mussed  up  and  full  of  hay-seed,  lie 
looked  dangerful. 

I  jist  drawed  back  the  dipper  what  I  was  puttin  batter 
in  the  skillet  with,  sayin  : 

"Jobe  Gaskins,  you  make  another  move  towards  me,  or 
attempt  to  strike  me,  and  lie  knock  you  so  cold  youle  never 
vote  for  another  Republican  office-seeker." 

I  was  a  lookin  at  him  all  the  time  with  the  dipper  drawed. 
He  seen  I  meant  jist  what  I  said ;  so  he  walked  over  and 
sot  down  on  the  edge  of  the  wood-box.  Continerin,  says  I : 

"You  are  a  purty-lookin  feller,  haint  you?  Thats  as 

104 


" 'JoBE  GASKINS,  YOU  MAKK  ANOTHER  MOVE!'" 


1 06  BE  TS  Y  GA  SKINS,  DIMICRA  7\ 

much  sense  as  you  and  your  likes  has  got.  You  would 
strike  down  the  pardner  of  your  life  rather  than  listen  to 
the  truth  about  the  rascality  of  the  men  who  run  your 
party." 

I  had  the  dipper  drawed  all  the  time,  and  had  stepped 
nearer  to  him. 

"Betsy, "  says  he,  pleadin  like,  "tell  jist  one  dishonest 
thing  a  Republican  officer  ever  done." 

Says  I  :  "Now,  Jobe,  you  are  actin  with  sense.  Where 
do  you  want  me  to  begin,  at  the  top  among  the  big  ones, 
or  at  the  bottom  among  the  little  ones?" 

"Begin  at  the  bottom,  Betsy,  at  the  bottom,"  says  he. 

"Well,  Jobe, "  says  I,  "you  listen,  and  I  will  keep  at 
the  cakes  or  they  will  burn." 

Thinkin  a  minit,  says  I  : 

"Fust,  there  is  the  county  commissioners." 

"Hold!"  says  Jobe,  jumpin  to  his  feet,  "dont  lets  go 
into  that  commissioner  bizness " 

I  turned  right  square  in  front  of  him,  and  drawin  the 
dipper,  says  I  : 

"Now,  sir,  you  set  down,  and  set  there  till  I  tell  you  to 
git  up." 

Jobe  sot  down. 

Says  I  agin  : 

"Fust,  there  is  the  county  commissioners  and  the 
bridges 

"Betsy —      "  says  Jobe,  conquered  like. 

"Jobe!"  says  I,  and  I  looked  a  look  at  him  that  made 
him  drop  his  head. 

Then  proceedin  agin,  says  I  : 

"Fust,  there  is  the  county  commissioners,  the  bridges 
and  iron  tubes." 

Jobe  flipped  his  thumb  and  fingers,  and  held  up  his  hand 
like  they  do  in  school. 


JOBE  SLEEPS  IN  THE  BARN.  107 

Says  I  :      "  Whats  you  want?"  cross  like. 

"Betsy,  if  you  are  a  goin  into  that  bridge  bizness,  with 
them  iron  tubes  and  all,  I  would  like  to  have  my  say  as 
well  as  you,"  says  he. 

"That  depends,"  says  I.  "If  you  act  with  sense  and 
dont  git  mad,  you  can  have  your  say.  If  you  flare  up  He 
silence  you,  sir." 

"Are  you  mad,  Betsy?"  says  he,  cowed  like. 

"No,  Ime  not  mad.  Ime  in  airnest,"  says  I,  takin  up 
the  cakes  and  settin  them  on  the  table.  Then  I  sot  down 
in  a  chair  in  front  of  Jobe,  still  holdin  the  dipper.  Says  I  : 

"Now,  Jobe,  who  is  agent  for  a  iron  bridge  company  in 
this  county  but  a  Republican  county  commissioner? 

"Who  went  over  into  a  adjoining  county  and  offered  to 
sell  a  iron  bridge  for  several  dollars  per  foot  less  than 
he  charged  his  own  county  for  the  same  kind  of  a 
bridge?  Who  done  this  but  a  Republican  county  com- 
missioner? 

"Who  let  a  contract  for  stone  butments  for  one  of  the 
leadin  bridges  in  this  county,  and  then  let  them  put  in  iron 
tubes  instid  of  stone  butments?  Who  done  this  but  a 
Republican  county  commissioner? 

"Who  sold  the  Trenton  bridge  out  in  three  sections  at 
$999.99  a  section,  so  as  to  evade  the  law  that  says  all 
public  contracts  for  $1,000  or  more  shall  be  advertised 
and  sold  to  the  lowest  bidder?  Who  done  this  sellin  but 
a  Republican  county  commissioner? 

"Who  gits  a  commission  on  all  the  bridges  the  tax- 
payers are  a  payin  for,  but  a  Republican  county  com- 
missioner? 

"Who  has  tore  down  good  bridges  jist  to  git  to  sell  a 
new  bridge  to  this  county,  but  a  Republican  county  com- 
missioner? 

"  Who  is  it  but  Republican  county  commissioners  that 


io8 


BETSY  G A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"  'Are  you  mad,   Betsy?'  says  he." 

dont  care  how  high  taxes  are  so  they  git  their  commission 
for  sellin  bridges? 

"Who  but  a  Republican  county  commissioner  refused 
to  allow  the  expense  necessary  to  collect  the  $65,000  back 
taxes,  Beriar  Wilk — 

"Hold!  Hold!"  cried  Jobe,  jurnpin  to  his  feet.  "Wilkins 
was  a  Dimicrat!  Wilkins  was  a  Dimicrat!  A  leadiu  Dimi- 
crat,  and  you  know  it!  And  more,  Betsy  Gaskins,  when 
you  say  that  nobody  was  mixed  up  in  that  bridge  bizness 
but  a  Republican  county  commissioner,  you  lie,  and — 

I  dident  let  him  finish.  I  couldent.  I  was  teched.  I 
jist  grabbed  the  mop-stick  that  was  standin  near,  and  struck 
at  him  with  ail  my  might  as  he  went  out  at  the  door.  I 
follered  him  clear  to  the  fence,  strikin  at  him  as  he  went; 
and  jist  as  he  was  crossin  the  fence  I  broke  that  mop-stick 


JOBE  SLEEPS  IN-  THE  BAR.\'.  IO9 

(that  cost  me  thirteen  cents)  on  them  election  patches. 

So  my  heart  is  heavier  than  it  has  been  since  I  become 
the  lawful  wife  of  Jobe  Gaskins. 

The  idea  of  him  a  tellin  me  that  I  lie,  this  late  in  our 
lives!  It  is  awful!  It  teched  me  to  the  quick!  Well,  Jobe 
Gaskins  got  no  breakfast  that  day,  and  I  was  so  worked 
up  that  I  couldent  eat  much. 

That  nite  Jobe  slept  in  the  barn  agin,  comin  in  some 
time  between  dark  and  daylite  to  get  what  vittles  was 
cooked. 

He  stayed  out  around  the  barn  for  three  days  and  nites, 
only  comin  in  arter  I  had  gone  to  bed,  to  git  what  he 
needed  to  eat.  I  dont  know  how  long  he  would  have  kept 
it  up  if  it  hadent  got  cold  Thursday  arternoon  and  evenin. 
That  evenin  he  froze  out,  and  came  up  to  the  fence  and 
hollered : 

"  Hello!" 

I  went  to  the  door,  and  says  : 

"Hello,  sir!     What  you  want?" 

"Betsy,"  says  he,  "I  would  like  for  you  to  let  me  come 
in  and  lay  by  the  cookin  stove  to-nite. " 

Says  I:  "If  you  wasent  so  set  in  your  ways  and  insuitin, 
you  could  a  been  sleepin  in  your  usual  place,  by  my  side, 
all  these  nites.  Come  in,"  says  I,  "  and  keep  your  mouth 
shet,  and  all  will  be  well." 

He  come  in,  and  I  set  him  a  good  warm  supper.  He 
eat  three  bowlsful  of  corn  mush,  and  drunk  two  big  cups 
of  hot  coffee. 

Now,  I  intend  to  git  all  the  names  and  facts  about  that 
bridge  bizness,  and  that  Beriar  Wilkins  back  tax  bizness, 
and  them  commissioners,  and  He  convince  Jobe  that  all 
his  high-toned  Republican  officeholders  are  arter  is  the 
chance  to  get  rich  off  from  the  people's  money.  He  do  it 
if  it  costs  me  a  divorce  suit  to  do  it. 


HO  BETSY  G A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

That  nite  Jobe  went  to  bed  fust.  When  I  went  in  I 
found  that  he  had  got  in  with  his  head  to  the  foot.  He 
thought  it  would  spite  me,  I  spose.  But  it  dident.  I 
laffed  and  jist  stood  there  and  looked  at  him,  and  while  I 
was  a  lookin  I  couldent  help  thinkin  how  much  he  rep- 
resented his  party  on  the  money  question.  You  know  how 
they  use  to  claim  that  they  was  the  party  what  believed  in 
lots  of  greenback  money,  and  how  they  pinted  with  pride 
to  the  great  amount  of  greenbacks  they  had  given  the 
people  to  do  bizness  with.  Now  they  are  turned  end 
about,  jist  like  Jobe.  Now  they  claim  they  are  for  "gold 
only,"  that  "lots  of  greenbacks  haint  good  for  the  people." 
They  are  a  sayin  now  agin  silver  and  paper  money  jist 
what  Vallandingham  and  his  likes  said  about  greenbacks. 
But  then  this  is  about  the  top  fellers.  So  I  wont  discuss 
this  any  more  until  I  git  the  facts  about  them  bottom 
fellers — about  the  county  commissioners  and  auditor  and 
prosecutin  attorney  and  Beriar  Wilkins,  and  lots  of  sich 
things  that  is  done  and  bein  done  all  over  this  country, 
lie  git  enough  to  drive  Jobe  clear  under  the  bed,  if  I  can 
hold  him  down  to  listen  to  it. 

Jobe  says  he  is  a  goin  to  git  the  facts  agin  the  Dimicrats 
if  he  has  to  subscribe  for  every  Republican  noosepaper  in 
the  county.  Now  I  dont  think  he  need  to  go  to  all  that 
expense,  because  so  fur  as  I  can  see  they  are  all  alike  and 
run  for  the  same  purpose — for  the  purpose  of  keepin  the 
Republican  voters  in  line. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    SPITTOONS. 

you  tell  a  feiler  where  he  could  borrow  a  little 
I  ,  money  to  pay  taxes  with?  Here  it  is  June,  and 
taxes  are  due  agin — bridge  taxes  and  all — and  Jobe 
lacks  $22.69  °f  havin  enough  to  pay  his  share. 

Taxes  seem  to  stay  up  better  than  anything  else.  They 
really  seem  to  be  on  the  rise. 

I  wonder  if  a  feller  could  borrow  that  much  money  from 
them  county  commissioners?  They  git  their  pay  when 
they  sell  a  bridge  to  the  taxpayers — cut-worms  or  no  cut- 
worms. 

Them  commissioners  ort  a  have  a  little  spare  change  by 
them,  when  they  git  pay  from  the  people  of  the  county  for 
buyin  bridges  and  pay  from  the  bridge  companies  for  sellin 
bridges. 

Ime  a  hearin  a  good  deal  about  that  bridge  bizness. 
About  them  iron  tubes  that  we  paid  the  same  for  as  stone 
butments  would  a  cost,  and  that  sellin  out  of  the  Trenton 
bridge  in  pieces  privately,  so  that  it  would  bring  more 
"commission,"  and  of  them  contractors  that  come  down 
here  and  got  paid  for  not  biddin  on  another  job,  and  all 
them  things,  and  Ime  a  layin  low  for  Jobe  so  that  the  next 
time  he  lites  into  me  He  pulverize  him. 

He's  been  quiet  for  a  day  or  two.  He's  been  out  a  tryin 
to  borrow  tax  money,  workin  on  the  "gold  basis,"  as  it 
were. 

He  ginerally  is  quiet  durin  tryin  times.  He  dont  know 
what  minit  he  may  need  my  help. 


II2  BETSY  CASK  INS,  DLM1CRAT. 

This  tax  bizness  is  a  deep  question,  and  seems  to  be  a 
gittin  deeper.  How  does  it  come  that  a  feller  what  has  a 
farm,  and  owes  for  it,  has  to  pay  the  same  tax  as  he  would 
if  he  had  it  all  paid  for? 

Now,  here  is  Jobe  and  me.  We  have  this  farm,  that 
liaint  worth  more  nor  $2,500;  we  owe  $i, 800  gold  mort- 
gage on  it.  So  we  own  $700  of  its  worth,  and  the  banker 
what  holds  the  mortgage  owns  the  balance.  We  have  to 
pay  $51.80  a  year  tax  on  it.  That  is,  we  pay  $51. 80  tax  on 
$700  we  own.  Haint  that  over  seven  per  cent,  tax  on  all 
we  are  worth?  Now,  if  the  banker  is  permitted  to  deduct 
his  debts  from  his  tax  list,  and  the  storekeeper  and  man- 
ufacturer is  allowed  to  deduct  their  debts  from  their  tax 
list,  why  haint  the  law-makers  what  Jobe  and  his  likes  has 
been  electin  to  office  made  laws  to  allow  the  farmer  to 
deduct  his  debts  from  his  tax  list?  Why  haint  they,  I  say? 
Haint  a  voter  what  farms  for  a  livin  jist  as  good  a  citizen, 
jist  as  much  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  laws  as  the  fellers 
are  what  lends  money  for  a  livin,  or  what  sells  store  goods, 
or  gits  rich  by  makin  things  to  sell  to  the  farmers  and  sich? 

If  we  only  had  to  pay  taxes  on  what  we  have  paid  on  this 
farm,  on  what  we  have  over  our  debts,  we  wouldent  have 
to  borrow  any  tax  money  this  June.  If  anybody  but  them 
crazy  Populists  would  offer  to  make  sich  a  law,  I  believe  I 
could  git  Jobe  to  vote  for  it.  But  them  Populists  are 
pizen  to  Jobe. 

He  is  so  swelled  up  'and  elated  over  the  county  offices 
bein  filled  with  Republican  officeseekers  instid  of  Dimi- 
crats,  that  I  dont  suppose  he  will  ever  vote  any  other 
ticket,  even  if  doin  so  would  put  him  out  of  debt  or  bring 
down  taxes  and  interest  and  sich. 

The  second  nite  arter  the  cold  weather  drove  Jobe  in 
from  the  haymow  to  the  comfortable  bed  of  his  lawful  wife, 
I  had  n  experience  lie  never  forgit. 


II4  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

We  had  gone  to  bed  about  the  usual  hour,  and  as  neither 
was  very  sleepy  we  fell  to  talkin. 

I  had  tried  to  avoid  anything  of  a  perlitical  natur  since 
that  tryin  mornin  in  the  kitchen,  and  Jobe  had  got  along 
with  givin  me  a  slur  now  and  then. 

Well,  arter  we  had  laid  there  some  time  we  got  onto  the 
question  of  taxes,  and  I  onthoughtedly  said  : 

"Jobe,  why  couldent  there  be  a  law  to  make  interest 
less  and  taxes  lower? 

"What  good  does  it  do  you  and  your  likes  to  vote  the 
same  party  ticket  year  arter  year,  when  you  see  they  dont 
do  anything  to  make  things  easier  for  you — when  you 
know,  or  ort  a  know,  that  the  men  what  runs  your  party 
only  work  for  the  money  they  can  git  out  of  the  taxes  you 
pay? 

"What  difference  is  it  to  you  what  party  has  the  offices? 
Better  laws  is  what  you  ort  a  look  to. 

"What  satisfaction  is  it  to  you  to  have  the  Republicans 
in,  anyhow?" 

I  hadent  that  last  question  out  of  my  mouth  until  Jobe 
was  up  on  his  knees  in  the  middle  of  the  bed,  layin  it  off 
with  both  hands.  The  moon  shinin  in  through  the  winder 
made  him  look  like  a  ghost,  with  his  long  gray  whiskers 
and  nothin  on  but  his  shirt. 

"Satisfaction!  satisfaction!"  says  he,  loud  and  quick. 
"Betsy  Gaskins,  for  forty  odd  years  Ive  been  goin  to  that 
air  court-house  and  have  had  to  pay  my  taxes  to  Dimi- 
crats — copperheads,  if  you  please,  rebels! — and  do  you 
suppose  its  no  satisfaction  for  me  to  go  there  now  and  see 
a  Republican  in  every  office?  Betsy,  it  was  the  happiest 
day  of  my  life  when  George  Sharp  told  me  that  the  last 
office  in  that  air  court-house  was  filled  by  a  Republican. 
Even  the  janitor,  Betsy,  is  a  Republican.  Yes,  sir,  the 
janitor  is  a  prominent  Republican.  Satisfaction!  Do  you 


THE  SPITTOONS. 


suppose  it  is  no  satisfaction 
for  me  to  go  into  that  court- 
house and  see  a  influential 
Republican  cleanin  them  big 
spittoons  and  a  sweepin  of 
that  stone  floor?  Do  you 
suppose  that  when  I  spit  in 
one  of  them  large  vessels,  or 
throw  a  chaw  of  terbacker  in 
one  of  them,  that  it  does  not 
give  me  more  satisfaction  to 
know  that  that  terbacker 
what  has  been  in  the  mouth 
of  Jobe  Gaskins  will  be 
handled  and  wiped  out  of 
that  spittoon  by  a  promi- 
nent, influential  Republican 
than  if  a  copperhead  Dimi- 
crat  was  to  do  it?  Satisfaction!  Betsy,  you  women  dont 
know  what  real  perlitical  satisfaction  and  enjoyment  is — 
thats  one  reason  you  haint  got  sense  enough  to  vote. 

"Do  you  suppose  that  Ive  been  a  votin  the  Republican 
ticket  all  these  years  for  nothin?  No,  sir. 

"If  the  Republicans  hadent  a  turned  out  the  Dimicrat 
what  was  janitor,  and  appinted  a  tried  and  true  Repub- 
lican in  his  place,  I  wouldent  a  gone  to  the  next  election. 
Jist  to  think  of  all  them  court-house  offices  bein  filled  by 
Republicans — janitor  and  all — is  enough  to  make  any  true 
Republican  farmer  rejoice." 

Durin  all  tliis  time  I  jist  laid  there  and  let  him  talk. 
Finally  he  laid  down,  and,  thinkin  I  was  asleep,  he  muttered 
a  few  things  to  himself  and  went  to  sleep  too. 

Poor  Jobe!  If  I  had  a  knode  it  would  be  sich  great 
enjoyment  to  him  and  his  likes  to  knock  the  Dimicrats  out 


A  strait,  influential,   leadin  Re- 
publican officeholder." 


n6 


BETSY  CASK  INS,  DIM2CRAT. 


of  that  court- 
house, Ide  a  been 
in  favor  of  it  long 
ago.  I  would, 
though  I m e  a 
Dimicrat. 

Jobe  says  you 
can  find  lots  of 
fellers,  jist  like 
him,  s  t  a  n  d  i  n 
around  the  court- 
house nowdays, 
chawin  terbacker 
and  talkin  poler- 
ticks,  jist  to  git 
to  spit  in  them 

big  spittoons  and 
"Lots  of  fellows  just  like  him."  tQ  haye  the  gatis. 

faction  of  knowin  that  it  will  be  cleaned  out  by  a  strait, 
influential,  leadin  Republican  officeholder. 

Well,  all  Ive  got  to  say  is  to  let  them  enjoy  their 
satisfaction  while  they  can,  for  that  is  about  all  they  git 
for  the  taxes  they  pay  and  the  vote  they  vote  and  have 
been  a  votin  for  years. 

Ime  glad  they  have  spittoons  in  that  court-house.  If 
they  hadent,  what  would  Jobe  and  his  likes  git  for  votin  the 
strait  ticket?  What  would  they  git,  I  say? 

Susan  Swaller  is  a  goin  over  into  Harrison  County  next 
week  to  visit  her  aunt,  and  Ime  a  goin  along. 

While  Ime  over  there  Ime  a  goin  to  find  out  more  about 
the  county  commissioners  of  our  county  offerin  to  sell  that 
county  a  bridge  for  much  less  money  than  they  charged 


THE  SPITTOONS. 


117 


this  county  for  the  same  kind  of  a  bridge.  If  what  I  hear 
is  true,  lie  give  Jobe  names  and  dates  and  prices  that 
will  make  him  stand  clear  up  in  bed  next  time,  moonlite 
or  no  moonlite,  shirt  or  no  shirt. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

A    BIG-HEADED    MAN. 

JOBE  and  me  are   livin  under  a  flag  of  truce.      I  went 
down   into  the   adjoinin   county  to  find  out  which  one 
of  our  county  commissioners  is  the  bridge  agent,  and 
by  what   I  could  hear  it  was  Commissioner  Westholt  what 
was  down  there,  but  it  seems  they  are  all  agents  or  kind  a 
pardners  in  the  "commission  "  bizness. 

When  I  got  home  I  up  and  told  Jobe  that  it  was  one  of 
the  Republican  commissioners — givin  his  name.  Jobe  he 
flew  up  and  claimed  he  knew  better ;  that  Commissioner 
Westholt  is  a  Dimicrat,  for  he  had  been  inquirin  too. 

Jobe  said  that  it  was  purty  hard  to  find  anything  out 
about  it,  as  all  the  court-house  fellers  thought  it  would  be 
better  not  to  let  it  git  out. 

Jobe  says  they  told  him  that  it  wasent  anything  onusual 
for  a  county  officer  to  make  all  he  could  while  he  had  a 
chance,  and  as  a  difference  of  $400  or  $500  on  a  bridge  was 
only  a  little  thing  to  each  tax-payer,  they  hadent  ort  to 
know  much  about  it,  as  they  might  git  to  talkin  about  it  and 
hurt  the  party. 

And  Jobe  says  they  told  him  on  the  quiet  that  the  Dimi- 
crat commissioner  was  the  bridge  agent  now,  but  jist  as 
soon  as  his  time  was  out  a  Republican  would  come  in,  and 
a  commissioner  of  his  own  party  would  git  the  job  of 
lookin  arter  the  bridge  company's  interests  in  this  county. 

This  seemed  to  satisfy  Jobe,  so  he  proposed  to  me  that 
if  I  would  say  nothin  more  about  it  he  wouldent  until  they 
can  git  a  full  board  of  Republicans  in. 

us 


A   BIG-HEADED  MAN. 


119 


And  as  there  seems  to  be  some 
doubt  as  to  which  one  is  agent 
now,  that  Dimicrat  or  one  of  the 
Republicans,  I  agreed  to  postpone 
further  argament  on  the  subject 
until  that  pint  was  settled. 

I  would  like  to  know  which  one 
is  /'/  now. 

If  it  is  the  Republican,  and  not 
the  Dimicrat,  Jobe  will  ketch  it. 
If  it  is  the  Dimicrat,  and  not  a 
Republican,  I  expect  He  have  to 
lay  low. 

But  let  it  be  Republican  or 
Dimicrat,  either  or  both,  it  seems 
to  me  that  a  man  must  have  a  big 
head  for  bizness  that  is  able  to  be 
the  buyer  and  seller  of  a  thing  at 
the  same  time.  It  seems  to  me 
he  would  git  "mixed  in  the  deal." 

As  county  commissioner  he  takes  an  oath  to  buy  the 
things  for  the  county  as  cheap  as  he  can  git  them.  As 
agent  of  the  bridge  company  he  would  want  to  sell  a 
bridge  for  as  high  price  as  possible,  so  that  his  commission 
would  be  big. 

Wouldent  you  like  to  see  him  a  argyin  with  himself,  fust 
as  buyer,  then  as  salesman? 

But  then,  Jobe  says,  "they  work  the  office  for  all  there 
is  in  it." 

Now,  if  Mistur  Republican  or  Dimicrat,  as  the  case  may 
be,  as  county  commissioner,  gits  his  salary  from  the  tax- 
payers, whether  he  buys  a  bridge  at  a  high  figger  or  a  low 
figger,  dont  you  suppose  he  lets  himself,  as  bridge  agent, 
work  himself,  as  county  commissioner,  for  a  little  bigger 


'Jobe  he  flew  up." 


120  BETSY  CASK  INS,  DIMICRAT. 

price  for  a  bridge  than  he  would  let  himself,  as  county 
commissioner,  be  worked  for  if  somebody  else  was  bridge 
agent,  especially  when  the  pay  for  sellin  bridges  depends 
on  the  price  you  sell  them  for? 

I  cant  see  what  Jobe  and  his  likes  expect  to  git  out  of 
that  way  of  runnin  bizness. 

But  then  there  are  the  spittoons. 


"It  wasent  anything  onusual  for  a  county  officer 
to  make  all  he  could." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

"BONDS    SELL    WELL." 

JOBE  haint  got  that  tax  money  yit.     Times  seem  awful 
hard.     But  Jobe  says  they  jist  seem   that   way  ;  they 
haint  hard   at   all.      "Times  are   never  hard  under  a 
gold  basis,"  Jobe  says. 

Jobe  was  a  argyin   last   nite  that  "  times  is  better  than 
they  was  jist  arter  the  war." 

Says  he  :    "  Hadent   we  all  ort  to  be  satisfied  so  long  as 
bonds  sells  well?" 

Now,  I  dont  know.     Maybe  we  had. 

But  Jobe  and  me  have  been  a  keepin  house  for  nigh  onto 


• '  Hadent  we  all  ort  to  be  satisfied  so  long  as  bonds  sells  well?'  " 


thirty-six  years,  and  of  all  the  crops  we  have  raised  to  try  to 
make  a  livin  at,  Ive  never  seen  Jobe  plant  a  single  govern- 
ment bond  at  seed-time  nor  harvest  one  at  harvest  time ; 
so  whether  government  bonds  bring  high  prices  or  low, 
good  prices  or  bad,  I  cant  see  what  benefit  it  is  to  Jobe  and 
his  likes  so  long  as  they  haint  got  any  to  sell.  And  if  govern- 


122 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


ment  bonds  are  like 
bridge  bonds,  I  think  the 
lower  they  are,  and  the 
fewer  of  them  that  are 
sold,  the  better  it  will  be 
for  him  and  his  likes. 

I  guess  it  is  really  so 
that  them  iron  tubes 
under  the  Dover  bridge 
cost  the  taxpayers  of  this 
county  jist  what  stone 
butments  would  a  cost. 

I  hear  the  contract  was 
fust  let  for  stone  but- 
ments, and  then  the  same 
contractors  persuaded 
the  county  commission- 
ers, "by  word  of  mouth 
or  otherwise, "  to  let  them 
put  in  them  little  iron 
tubes,  and  was  paid  the 
same  pay  as  if  they  had 
put  in  stone  butments. 

They  dont  do  things 
that  way  down  in  Penn- 
sylvania. My  aunt  Jane's 
son  Charles  is  a  workin 

down    there.     He  sent  me  a  paper   from   his  town,   and 
here  is  the  way  they  do  it  down  in  that  State: 

"  COURT  WOULDN'T  RELEASE  THEM. 

' '  HOLLIDAYSBURG,  PA.  ,  June  24.  — The  Blair  County  Court, 
this  afternoon,  declined  to  order  the  release  from  custody 
of  County  Commissioners  John  Hurd  and  James  Funk  on 
a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  The  accused  officials  were  required 


'Times  are  never  hard  under  a  gold 
basis,'  Jobe  says." 


"BONDS  SELL   WELL." 


123 


to  furnish  bail  in  three  different  prosecutions  for  malfeasance 
in  office.  The  grand  jury  reported  to  court  this  afternoon 
that  the  two  commissioners  had  unlawfully  let  two  impor- 
tant bridge  contracts  to  the  Groton  Bridge  Company  at  a 
loss  to  the  county  of  $1,490.  The  jury  requested  that  the 
court  interpose  its  power  to  prevent  such  loss." 

You  notice  that  it  would  be  dangerful  for  county  com- 
missioners to  let  a  bridge  contract,  like  the  Trenton  bridge, 
contrary  to  law,  without  advertisin,  if  they  were  down  in 
that  State. 

Jobe  hasent  time  to  discuss  this  bridge  question  now, 
nor  wont  have  till  arter  tax-borrowin  time  is  over.  He  is 
bizzy. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    SERMON. 

I  GUESS  Jobe  and  me  are  goners.  Jobe  is  nearly 
broken-hearted,  and  I  feel  kind  a  faint  like.  We  will 
have  to  go  to  hell.  Our  preacher  says  so. 

Last  Sunday  Jobe  wanted  me  to  go  to  meetin.  I  said 
Ide  go.  So  I  jist  put  on  that  hat  I  got  from  Jane  Sum- 
mers, and  the  blue  cambric  dress  I  have  wore  now  for 
some  three  years,  and  we  hitched  poor  old  crippled  Tom 
to  the  spring  wagon  and  we  went. 

We  tied  Tom  under  a  shade  tree  jist  outside  of  town 
and  walked  in. 

They  was  singin  when  we  got  there.  As  we  walked  up 
the  ile  of  that  big  Methodist  church,  crowded  full  of 
leadin  men  and  women,  they  pinted  and  whispered  and 
snickered  at  my  straw  hat  and  Jobe's  linen  coat,  with  a 
muslin  patch  on  the  sleeve,  till  I  was  really  ashamed  of 
some  of  them.  High-toned  people  do  sometimes  act  so 
silly  that  its  shockin. 

Well,  the  preacher  took  a  hard  text  to  preach  from. 

It  was  about  Jesus  tellin  a  young  feller  "to  go  sell  all 
he  had  and  give  it  to  the  poor." 

I  thought  the  preacher  had  his  foot  in  it  the  minit  he 
read  that  text. 

But  then  he  got  out  of  it  in  a  way  that  cast  a  gloom  over 
Jobe  and  me.  He  went  on  to  explain  that  Jesus  dident 
mean  what  he  said ;  that  he  was  jist  a  jokin  with  the  feller. 

He  said  Jesus  wanted  to  make  a  preacher  out  of  the 
young  man,  and  he  told  him  that  jist  to  try  him  ;  but  when 

124 


THE  SEKMOX. 


125 


"They  whispered  and  snickered  at  my  straw  hat  and  Jobe's 
linen  coat." 

he  told  him  to  do  that  the  young  feller  went  off  sorry  and 
dident  go  to  preachin. 

I  jist  thought  if  that  was  what  Jesus  intended  to  do  and 
why  he  told  him  that,  Jesus  was  a  poor  judge  of  timber  to 
make  a  preacher  out  of. 

Then  the  preacher  went  on  to  show  that  the  young  feller 
Jesus  failed  to  make  a  preacher  out  of  was  the  only  one 
he  meant  should  give  anything  to  the  poor;  that  he  dident 
mean  anybody  in  that  Methodist  meetin-house ;  that  they 
and  everybody  else  could  git  all  they  could  and  keep  all 


126 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


He  said  the  rich  all  belong  to  church." 


they  can  git;  that  the 
more  they  git  and  the 
less  they  give  to  the 
poor  the  surer  they 
would  be  of  gittin  to 
heaven. 

He  said  the  rich  all 
belong  to  church  and 
were  good;  that  that 
was  the  reason  they 
were  rich  —  because 
God  loved  them  and 
prospered  them ;  that 
God  had  made  them 
his  bankers,  and  they 
were  his  bankers. 

Well,  when  he  said 
all  that  I  jist  felt  gone 
like. 

I  looked  at  Jobe, 
and  he  was  as  pale  as 
a  ghost.  He  was 
skeert. 

We     both    felt    that 


we  were  doomed  to  eternal  torment,  because  the  Lord 
knows  he  hasent  prospered  us. 

We  are  old  and  poor.  If  riches  is  evidence  that  God 
favors  the  rich,  and  that  they  are  good,  and  that  He  will 
take  them  to  heaven  because  they  are  rich,  to  be  poor 
is  a  sign  that  God  does  not  favor  the  poor,  and  that  they 
are  bad  and  will  go  to  hell. 

We  have  worked  hard,  Jobe  and  me. 

We  have  plowed  and  sowed  and  rept ;  we  have  labored 
in  sunshine  and  in  rain  ;  we  have  paid  interest  on  interest, 


THE  SERMON. 


127 


taxes  on  taxes ;  we  have  caught  bushels  of  pertater  bugs  and 
killed  thousands  of  cut-worms,  tryin  to  git  rich  and  thus 
gain  the  favor  of  the  church  and  reach  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

We  have  picked  the  lice  from  spring  calves  and  buried 
many  a  sheep  that  died  of  the  rot,  tryin  to  gain  the  praises 
of  the  preachers  and  the  world  and  git  on  equal  footin,  in 
the  race  for  eternal  bliss,  with  the  fellers  who  live  on 
interest  and  rent  and  taxes  and  dividends  and  sich,  and  in 
all  our  efforts  we  have  failed.  So  now  in  our  old  age,  with 
late  frosts  in  the  spring  and  airly  frosts  in  the  fall,  with 
drouth  when  it  ort  to  be  wet,  and  wet  when  it  ort  to  be 
dry,  I  can  see  no  chance  to  gain  the  praises  of  the  church 
and  the  necessary  qualification  for  God's  favor  this  late  in 
our  lives. 

Feelin  this  way,  I  can  see  nothin  for  us  to  do  but  to 
work  day  and  nite  to  pay  interest  and  taxes,  so  as  to  help 
the  money-lenders,  monopolists  and  officeholders  git  there. 

Its  bad,  but  I  suppose  it  must  be  that  way.  The 
preacher  knows. 

Jobe  has  been  buildin  great  hopes  on  havin  it  easier  in 
the  hereafter.  His  hopes  are  blasted.  It  looks  now  as 
though  he  would  not  have  the  pleasure  of  even  votin  the 
strait  ticket  in  the  great  beyond. 

Poor  Jobe!     Its  a  great  disappintment  to  him. 

But  whats  to  be  done? 

He  will  jist  have  to  submit.      He  cant  help  it. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

JOBE    HELPING    TO    RAISE    THE    OFFICERS'    SALARIES. 

JOBE  has  been  a  helpin  Hen  Minick  cut  wheat  and 
harvest  for  a  week  past,  and  the  poor  man  has  big 
blisters  in  his  hand  and  cracks  and  sores  on  his  fingers 
that  jist  keep  me  busy  a  pickin  and  a  salvin  and  a  doc- 
torin.  And  he  is  that  stiff  he  can  hardly  walk. 

He  has  been  workin  to  git  money  to  pay  taxes  with. 

When  he  got  done  Hen  told  him  he  would  have  to  wait 
till  arter  thrashin  time  for  the  $7.50  he  owes  him  for 
helpin. 

Jobe  told  him  he  would  have  to  have  it  right  away,  as 
his  taxes  was  past  due,  and  if  he  dident  pay  them  soon 
they  would  attach  a  penalty  to  them.  Hen  said  he  was 
sorry,  but  he  dident  have  a  dollar,  nor  haint  had  for 
weeks. 

Jobe  come  home  discouraged  like. 

How  can  he  git  it  from  Hen  when  Hen  haint  got  it? 

If  Jobe  sues  him,  Hen  will  git  mad  and  git  somebody 
else  to  do  his  harvestin  next  time. 

Besides,  Hen  is  honest  and  would  pay  if  he  had  it.  He 
is  a  good  nabor  and  worth  it,  but  Hen  says  times  is  hard 
and  money  scarce. 

When  I  was  a  puttin  salve  on  Jobe's  hands  last  nite  I 
jist  thought : 

"Here  is  the  same  hand  that  has  been  puttin  tickets  in 
the  box  for  thirty  years  or  more  to  help  elect  the  law- 
makers who  made  laws  to  lend  money  to  national  bankers 
at  one  per  cent. ;  laws  to  issue  bonds  to  git  the  paper 

128 


HARVESTING 


BETSY  GASK1NS,  DIMICRAT. 


money  of  the  country 
to  burn ;  laws  to  de- 
monitize  silver;  laws 
to  make  money  scarce 
and  times  hard  ;  laws 
to  enable  the  rich  to 
live  off  the  poor.  And 
here  that  hand  is  sore 
and  full  of  cracks  and 
pain — yes,  the  same 
hand  that  has  helped 
to  elect  the  county 
officers  of  this  county 
— full  of  blisters  and 
scabs,  made  so  a 
workin  to  git  money 
to  help  pay  them 
officeholders  their 
salaries — salaries  of  thousands  of  dollars  a  year — and  they 
ready  to  add  to  that  tax  and  sell  our  home  in  order  to 
git  them  big  salaries  if  Jobe  dident  pay  his  sheer." 

There  is  the  probate  judge,  who  gits  $5,300  a  year;  and 
the  county  clerk,  who  gits  $5,500  ;  and  the  recorder,  who 
gits  $3,600;  and  the  sheriff,  who  gits  $3,900;  and  the 
treasurer,  who  gits  $3,400 ;  and  the  auditor,  who  gits 
$3,500;  and  the  prosecutin  attorney,  who  gits  $1,600 ; 
and  the  county  commissioners,  who  git  $1,400  apiece. 
And  they  git  it  from  Jobe  and  his  likes,  who  dont  make 
$500  a  year,  even  when  seasons  are  favorable  and  crops 
good.  And  they  are  gittin  of  them  big  salaries  by  the 
votes  of  Jobe  and  his  likes,  who  has  them  to  pay — yes,  by 
the  votes  of  the  very  fellers  who  are  a  blisterin  their  hands 
and  a  rubbin  salve  and  a  walkin  stiff  to  pay  them. 

Now  if  them  salaries  were  reduced   to  what  them  same 


"I  was  puttin  salve  on  Jobe's  hands." 


JOBE 


TO  RAISE  SALARIES. 


men  would  be  willin  to  work  for  at  anything  else — if  them 
salaries  were  reduced  to  $600  for  commissioners  and  $1,500 
for  probate  judge,  auditor  and  sich,  I  wonder  if  it  wouldent 
take  less  blisters  and  briars  and  cracks  and  backaches  to 
pay  them  to  do  the  people's  work. 

Any  of  them  would   be  willin  to  do   the  same  work  for 
them  riggers,  if  the  people  would  git  together  and,  instid 


The  hand  that  voted  "the  strait  ticket." 

of  votin  for  officeseekers,  vote  for  men  who  would  make  a 
law  to  only  pay  sich  riggers  for  public  work. 

Is  it  any  wonder  they  want  to  hold  Jobe  and  his  likes  in 
line? 

All  Ive  got  to  say  is  :  If  Jobe  and  his  likes  would  rather 
have  sore  hands  and  stiff  backs,  if  they  would  rather  rub 
salve  and  pick  briars  than  to  quit  votin  the  "strait  ticket," 
let  them  have  them.  Let  them  pick  and  rub. 

This  strait  ticket  bizness  is  incrcasin  the  demand  for  St. 
Jacob's  oil  and  Green  Mountain  salve  and  sich  alarminly. 

But  as  they  are  great  on  the  "home  market"  scheme,  T 
suppose  they  are  satisfied,  and  I  ort  to  be. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

PLAN    TO    RELIEVE    THE    RICH    OF    AN    EXPENSE. 

ON  the  fust  page  of  last  Tuesday's  Plain  Dealer  there 
is  a  article  that  has  caused  me  to  have  a  great  deal 
of  thought. 

It  is  about  Captain  Fred  W.  Lawrence  of  Company  B, 
of  the  Standin  Army  of  Ohio,  a  writin  to  the  coal  opera- 
tors, and  railroad  officers,  and  monopolists,  and  bankers, 
and  rich  speculators  of  Cleveland,  askin  them  to  give 
somethin  toward  supportin  said  army. 

He  says  he  wants  to  git  "good  men  in  the  militia — men 
who  can  be  depended  on  to  do  their  duty  in  case  of  labor 
trouble." 

Now,  Fred  dont  want  any  common  scrubs  in  his  company. 
He  needs  money  to  hire  the  kind  of  men  he  wants — "men 
who  will  do  their  duty  in  case  of  labor  trouble." 

Now  what  is  the  "duty"  of  sich  men? 

What  does  Fred  want  them  to  do  to  the  "  laborin 
people  "  ? 

Haint  it  the  "duty"  of  good  men  belongin  to  a  arm), 
like  Fred,  to  shoot? 

Judge  Hutchins  and  Judge  Blandin  and  some  of  the 
other  polerticians  say  Fred  hadent  ort  to  a  writ  that  letU-r, 
or,  if  he  wanted  to  write  it,  he  hadent  ort  to  a  writ  it  in 
that  way,  because  now  it  is  out  what  the  militia  is  for. 

The  militia  is  to  shoot  laborin  men  with. 

They  are  afraid  some  of  the  laborin  people  will  begin  to 
ask  themselves  what  they  are  votin  the  strait  ticket  for. 

Fred  says  he  jist  copied  that  letter  from  the  ones  his 

132 


•SOME  noon  MEN  IN  CASK  OF  I.APOR  TRorni.r.." 


! 34  BETSY  GA SKINS,  DIJMR 'RA  7 '. 

predecessors  in  office  have  been  sendin  out  to  these  rich 
people  for  years. 

Now  what  is  botherin  me  is  how  to  save  them  coal  opera- 
tors, and  railroad  owners,  and  monopolists,  and  rich  stock- 
holders in  monopolies,  from  havin  to  pay  toward  sich  things 
as  "keepin  up  the  militia." 

They  are  leadin  citizens  and  own  the  coal  fields,  and 
railroads,  and  banks,  and  trusts,  and  sich.  They  are  rich, 
and  everything  should  be  done  to  make  it  easy  for  them  to 
git  along  in  the  world  without  trouble. 

If  there  were  no  laborin  men  there  wouldent  be  any  need 
of  "keepin  up  the  militia." 

So  if  the  militia  is  to  be  used  only  to  quiet  the  people 
who  labor,  the  best  thing  I  know  of  is  to  get  rid  of  the 
laborin  people. 

They  seem  to  be  a  kind  of  unwelcome  creatures  in  this 
world  anyhow. 

If  we  can  get  rid  of  them  this  will  be  a  fine  country. 
The  rich  can  live  in  peace  and  the  militia  fellers  can  go  to 
doin  somethin  useful. 

Now  there  is  several  good  ways  to  git  rid  of  the  people 
who  work  for  a  livin. 

The  best  and  surest  way  is  to  kill  them,  and  now  is  the 
time  to  do  it,  when  land  is  cheap.  The  buryin  wont  cost 
so  much  now  as  it  would  if  we  had  more  money  and  land 
was  higher. 

But  I  dont  believe  in  shootin. 

They  ort  to  be  killed  in  some  nice,  quiet  way,  in  a  way 
that  wont  cripple  them  up  as  militia  shootin  might. 

I  hate  to  see  crippled  poor  people  ;  it  makes  me  feel 
sorry  for  them. 

The  thing  to  do  is  to  git  a  great  lot  of  them  together  in 
a  bunch,  then  do  it  quick  and  sure. 

The  best  way  I  know  of  is  to  offer  a  great  feast  of  bread 


PLAN  TO  RELIEVE  THE  RICH  OF  EXPENSE, 


135 


and  "real  cow  butter,"  with  three  or  four  side  dishes,  and 
invite  all  to  come  and  feast  their  fill. 

Then  when  they  are  all  at  a  great  feast,  eatin  and  enjoyin 
theirselves,  like  the  rich  people  do,  have  an  electric  arrange- 
ment fixed  so  the  current  could  be  turned  on  the  whole 
crowd  at  once,  and  in  twelve  seconds  they  would  all  be 
stone  dead. 

They  would  die  with  a  smile  on  their  faces,  jist  like  as  if 
they  had  allus  sot  at  the  table  of  plenty  and  enjoyed  their- 
selves. The  big  Methodist  church  in  town  would  be  a 
good  place  to  have  the  feast  and  do  the  killin. 

Then  arter  the  current  was  turned  off  all  we  would  have 
to  do  would  be  to  load  their  dead  bodies  in  wagons  and 
haul  them  off  and  bury  them  in  some  cheap  piece  of  ground 
and  let  the  militia  disband. 

Dont  you  see,  in  that  way  we  would  dispose  of  the  old 
and  young  alike — the  little  children  as  well  as  the  grown 
up  men  and  women.  I  know  some  of  the  little  children 
are  pretty.  Some  even  have  nice  yaller,  curly  hair,  big 
blue  eyes  and  red  cheeks,  and  love  one  another.  Ive  heern 
of  them  clingin  to  the  necks  of  their  fathers  and  mothers 
with  love,  even  when  hungry.  But  we  will  have  to  kill  the 
little  things,  or  they  will  grow  up  to  annoy  the  rich,  jist  as 
their  fathers  and  mothers  annoy  them  now. 

Of  course,  I  know  drownin  is  a  easy  death,  and  pizenin 
and  all  sich,  but  them  are  old-fashioned  ways.  Some  of 
them  might  escape  if  we  undertook  to  do  it  them  ways. 

This  electricity  bizness  is  a  grand  thing,  and  is  sure 
death  if  worked  right. 

Of  course,  other  counties  could  do  it  whichever  way 
they  think  best,  but  here  in  Tuscarawas  County,  with  the 
big  Methodist  church  and  all  and  plenty  of  laborin  people, 
electricity  is  the  thing  to  use. 

We  might  have  two  or  three  killins  in  this  county.     Fust 


136 


BETSY  G 'A SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


'Some  of  the  little  children  are  pretty." 


we  could  give  a  feast 
to  all  the  rollin  mill 
men  and  rail  work- 
ers ;  then  to  all  the 
coal  miners ;  then 
to  all  the  carpen- 
ters, and  stone 
masons,  and  day 
laborers,  and  sich, 
and  by  not  lettin  any 
escape,  one  kind 
wouldent  git  onto 
what  was  bein  done 
until  we  had  them 
enclosed  and  the 
current  turned  on. 
Ive  been  a  talkin 
to  Jobe  about  it,  and 
he  says  that  jist 
whatever  the  Re- 
publican party  says 
he'll  agree  to ;  but 
he  declares  he  dont 


want  to  go  to  town  on  the  day  of  the  killin. 

I  dont  know  why  he  doesent  want  to  go.  It  may  be  he 
is  afraid  he  will  git  inside,  or  it  may  be  he  doesent  want  to 
look  upon  the  faces  of  those  dead  poor  people,  whose  toil 
has  created  all  the  wealth  the  rich  people  own  who  now 
wants  them  killed. 

Now,  Mistur  Editure,  if  you  will  talk  this  scheme  up 
among  the  rich  people  of  the  nation,  and  especially  of 
Ohio,  I  think  you  can  git  them  to  see  that  it  would  be 
much  cheaper  than  their  payin  each  year  to  keep  a  standin 
army,  and  it  would  be  more  kind  to  the  laborin  people 


PLAN  TO  RELIEVE  THE  RICH  OF  EXPENSE.          137 

than  to  shoot  them  through  the  head  when  they  are  hungry, 
or  make  them  cry  with  pain  by  cripplin  them  all  up  with 
big,  heavy  Winchester  bullets. 

Besides,  think  of  the  moanin  and  grief  and  heartaches 
and  tears  it  would  save  the  wives  and  children  if  they  are 
killed  at  the  same  time  their  husbands  and  fathers  are. 

Shootin  down  men  folks  allers  makes  someone  cry,  and 
I  hate  to  hear  it  even  if  it  is  poor  women  and  little  poor 
children. 

And  shootin  seems  to  be  sich  a  slow  way  of  gittin  rid  of 
them. 

Why,  down  in  New  York  they  use  electricity  to  kill 
murderers  with.  They  wouldent  think  of  standin  off  and 
shootin  even  murderers  down  there.  They  use  electricity 
because  it  is  quicker  and  surer  death,  and  more  refined, 
and  I  know  that  the  people  of  Ohio  who  labor  for  a  livin 
liaint  any  worse  or  deservin  of  more  cruel  treatment  than 
murderers  are  in  New  York. 

Hopin  the  rich  will  be  merciful  to  the  poor  as  long  as 
they  let  them  live  on  their  land  and  in  their  country,  I  am 
yours  for  electricity  and  agin  the  militia. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THEM    PROMISES. 

JOBE  took  what  hay  he  could  spare  to  town  yisterday 
and  sold  it  to  Billot,  the  miller.      He  dident  git  any 
money.      He  took  Billot's  note,  due  ten   days  before 
our  semi-annual  interest  falls  due  on  our  mortgage. 

Jobe  says  he  would  rather  have  Billot's  note  than  the 
money.  He  says  it  haint  in  style  to  pay  cash  durin  a  gold 
basis. 

Our  hay  crop  wasent  nothin  to  brag  on  this  year.     We 


"Jobe  took  what  hay  he  could  spare." 

got  $19  worth  of  hay  off  from  five  acres  of  medder,  and  a 
little  doodle  for  old  Tom. 

Now,  I  haint  a  goin  to  complain  any  more  till  arter  fall 
election,  but  when  Jobe  come  home  and  told  me  that  $19 
was  all  he  got  for  his  hay,  and  that  what  he  did  git  would 
have  to  go  for  interest,  I  jist  thought  that  it  would  not  be 
so  hard  to  give  what  you  raise  to  somebody  else  if  you  got 
anything  to  show  for  it  when  you  did  give. 

But  arter  we  sell  our  hay  and  thirty  bushels  of  wheat 
that  Billot  said  he  would  take  at  60  cents  a  bushel,  and 


THEM  PROMISES. 


139 


the  Lord  only  knows 
what  else,  to  pay  that 
$63  interest  in  October, 
we  will  still  owe  jist  as 
much  as  we  did  before. 

Now,  if  my  dream  had 
been  true,  and  we  had 
borrowed  that  $1,800 
from  the  county  treas- 
urer at  only  two  per 
cent.,  instid  of  the 
banker  at  seven  per 
cent.,  our  semi-annual 
interest  would  a  bin  only 
$18  instid  of  #63. 

With  $63,  then,  we 
could  have  paid  the  $18 
interest  to  the  county 
and  $45  on  the  mortgage 
— and  that  would  be 
encouragin. 

I  wonder  when  the 
Dimicratic,  or  Republi- 
can party  either,  or 
both,  will  begin  to  do 
somethin  to  make  it  easy 


"They  are  kept  so  busy  legislatin." 


for  people  to  buy  homes,  and  pay  for  them,  by  makin  it 
easy  for  people  to  borrow  money  when  they  need  it,  by 
reducin  interest  and  taxes  and  sich. 

Every  election  since  Jobe  and  me  was  married,  fust  one 
party  and  then  the  other  has  been  promisin  to  do  somethin 
to  help  the  people  git  along  in  the  world,  but  I  declare  to 
goodness  I  have  nearly  got  discouraged  waitin  for  them  to 
do  it. 


140 


BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


They  seem  to  be  so  forgetful  arter  election.  I  guess 
they  are  kept  so  busy  legislatin  and  makin  laws  to  help 
the  rich  that  they  jist  dont  have  time  to  do  anything  for 
the  poor. 

By  the  time  the  law-makers  git  all  the  laws  that  the 
railroad-owners  and  street-car  companies  and  bridge  com- 
panies and  bankers  and  bondholders  and  monopolists  and 
other  milionairs  want,  they  haint  got  any  time  to  look 
arter  the  farmers  and  mechanics  and  merchants  and  mill- 
hands  and  coal  miners  and  sich  ;  so  they  jist  let  the  people's 
bizness  go,  until  the  next  election,  to  make  promises  on. 
And  as  the  voters  seem  willin  to  wait,  jist  so  they  git  to  vote 
the  strait  ticket,  I  guess  I  will  have  to  do  so  too. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

JOBE    EXCITED    OVER    A    NOMINATION. 

THIS  mornin  while  I  was  settin  a  churnin  and 
thinkin,  thinkin  how  high  the  monopoly  men  and 
the  money-lenders  and  the  officeholders  live,  and 
how  low  the  farmers  and  mechanics  and  day  laborers  live, 
and  wonderin  why  some  live  high  and  some  low,  Jobe 
come  a  stormin  in  at  the  kitchen  door,  so  suddint  like  that 
it  skeert  me. 

Says  he:  "Betsy,  give  me  my  overhalls,  quick,  and  put 
up  that  churnin  and  come  out  and  help  me  build  a  higher 
fence  around  the  medder. " 

And  while  he  was  a  sayin  it  he  was  a  jerkin  skirts  and 
pettycoats  and  sich  like  down  from  the  nails  in  the  wall 
onto  the  floor,  a  huntin  them  overhalls. 

"Why,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "what  on  airth  is  the  matter? 
What  do  you  want  more  fence  around  the  medder  for?" 

"To  save  the  grass,  Betsy,  to  save  the  grass,"  says  he. 
"What  would  you  suppose  Ide  want  more  fence  around  the 
medder  for?  Hurry  up,  quit  that  churnin  and  git  me  them 
overhalls,  or  he  will  have  half  the  grass  stomped  out  before 
we  git  a  rail  up." 

I  stopped  churnin,  and,  lookin  him  strait  in  the  face, 
says  I : 

"Jobe  Gaskins,  are  you  crazy?  What  are  you  talkin 
about  anyhow?" 

"What  am  I  talkin  about?"  says  he.  "What  am  I  talkin 
about?  Betsy,  Ime  talkin  about  Coxey — Coxey!  Theyve 
went  and  nominated  him  for  governor,  and  he'll  stomp  all 

141 


142 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


s  the  grass  out  of  the 
State  of  Ohio  if  the 
fences  haint  built 
higher  and  stronger. 
"You  can  see  now 
what  them  Populists 
are  a  bringin  us  to. 

' '  You  can  see  now 
what  you  git  for 
readin  them  Popu- 
list books  and  pa- 
pers. 

"You  git  to  carry 
rails,  and  set  stakes, 
and  put  on  riders, 

and " 

I  had  sot  down 
and  went  to  churnin. 
When  Jobe  heerd 
the  sound  of  that 
dasher  he  stopped  huntin  for  them  overhalls,  and,  turnin  to 
me  with  fire  in  his  eyes,  says,  says  he : 

"Haint  you  a  goin  to  help  build  that  fence?" 
I  stopped  churnin,  and,  turnin  round  facin  him,  with  my 
hands  on  my  knees,  says  I : 

"Jobe  Gaskins,  if  you  and  your  likes  would  begin  to 
build  up  your  common  sense  and  good  judgment  with  sich 
ideas  as  Coxey's  'county  bonds  without  interest,'  and 
Coxey's  plan  of  makin  roads  and  givin  work  to  idle  men 
like  yourself — I  say,  if  you  and  your  likes  would  build  up 
your  common  sense  with  some  sich  ideas  instid  of  votin 
the  strait  ticket  with  your  eyes  shet,  you  wouldent  have  to 
lose  so  much  time  in  the  future  a  borrowin  interest  mone)' 
and  workin  to  pay  taxes.  Yes,  if  you  and  your  likes  had 


A   huntin  them  overhalls.' 


JOBE  EXCITED  Ol>'ER  A  NOMINATION. 


been  a  votin  for 
some  sich  ideas 
for  years  past 
instid  of  votin 
for  a  lot  of  office- 
seekin  cander- 
dates(who  never 
had  a  idea),  you 
wouldent  be  $i,- 
800  in  debt  to- 
day ;  you  would- 
ent be  a  sellin 
wheat  for  sixty 
cents  a  bushel 
and  wool  for  fif- 
teen cents  a 
pound;  you 
wouldent  be  a 
givin  all  you 
raise  every  year 
for  interest  and 
taxes. 

"So  my  ad- 
vice to  you,  Jobe 
Gaskins,  is  for 

you  and  your  likes  to  open  gaps  in  your  wall  of  prejudice 
and  let  Coxey  and  his  ideas  in,  instid  of  buildin  higher 
fences  around  your  medders  to  keep  him  out. 

"Yes,  put  up  a  notice  invitin  Mr.  Coxey  to  come  in  and 
plant  his  ideas  all  over  your  field,  and  tromp  them  in  if 
need  be. 

"Do  this,  and  I  think  when  you  go  to  vote  hereafter  you 
will  see  crops  a  growin  youhaint  seen  hi  lore. " 

Jobe   had  been    sidelin    toward    the   door   while    1    was 


•T   had  snt   ilmvn  and  went  to  churnin.' 


144 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIM1CRAT. 


speakin,  and,  reachin  it,  he  went  out  a  mutterin  somethin 
about  dyin  before  he  would  change ;  that  he  wouldent 
let  Coxey  into  his  medder  if  it  would  cause  enough  hay  to 
grow  next  year  to  pay  off  the  $1,800  mortgage  that's  on 
our  farm. 

I  went  on  a  finishin  my  churnin  so  as  to  have  the  butter 
to  trade  for  some  groceries  when  the  huckster  comes 
around.  It  was  lovely  butter.  I  was  tempted  to  use  some 
of  it  for  dinner,  but  dident  dare,  for  fear  I  wouldent  have 
enough  left  to  git  what  we  actually  need. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    BLOOMERS. 

I  MADE  me  a  pair  of  Dimicratic  bloomers   day  before 
yisterday,  and  Jobe  he  is  mad.      Ive  been  a  waitin  to 
make  me  a  pair  all  summer,  but  put  off   doin  so  till 
arter  the  Dimicratic  State  convention.     As  soon  as  I  heerd 
from  that  convention  I  sot  to  work  and  made  them. 

I  made  one  leg  and  the  waist  out  of  a  pair  of  Jobe's  old 
black  pants,  and  the  other  leg  I  made  out  of  a  sheet. 

The  black  leg  is  to  represent  the  polerticians  and 
schemers  what  wants  a  "gold  basis,"  and  the  white  leg  is 
for  the  Dimicratic  voters  what  wants  silver  for  money  jist 
like  we  use  to  have  years  ago  when  times  were  good. 

I  made  the  black  leg  and  waist  for  the  right  side,  because 
it  seems  that  the  fellers  what  it  stands  for  is  the  strongest, 
and  the  white  leg  is  for  the  "left"  side. 

When  I  was  a  soin  that  white  leg  to  the  black  leg,  every 
now  and  then  a  stitch  would  break  out  of  the  white  leg, 
jist  as  though  that  white  leg  dident  want  to  be  hitched 
onto  that  "black  leg"  side,  and  I  jist  thought  it  would  be 
a  wonder  if  the  white  leg  side  of  them  bloomers  dident 
split  clear  off  from  the  "black  leg "  side  before  election  day. 

But  by  a  good  deal  of  whippin  and  stitchin  I  got  them 
together  and  put  them  on  to  go  out  and  pick  pertater  bugs. 

Jobe  he  was  away,  and  I  was  as  busy  as  I  could  be 
knockin  bugs  into  an  old  tomato  can,  bent  over  like,  when 
Jobe  come  up  to  the  gate  and  hollered : 

"Hello,  mistur!" 

I  stopped  and  turned  towards  him  and  says,  says  I : 

'45 


I46 


BETSY  G 'A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"I  thank  you,  Jobe 
Gaskins;  Ime  no  'mis- 
tur.'" 

Well,  you  ort  a  seen 
the  look  on  that  man's 
face. 

He  turned  pale, 
opened  his  eyes  skeert 
like,  stepped  back  and 
says : 

"Why,  Betsy,  what 
air   you  out   here  for 
with  your  clothes  off?" 
That  made  me  mad. 
Says  I  : 

"Mistur  Gaskins,  I 
thank  you  for  none  of 
your  insults.  If  you 
had  any  sense  you 
would  know  that  I  am 
dressed  in  the  latest 
fashion." 

Then  I  explained 
to  him  that  bloomers 
were  all  the  go,  and  that  I  had  made  mine  arter  the  style  of  my 
party — arter  the  Dimicratic  State  platform  of  Ohio  and 
the  Dimicratic  county  platform  of  Tuscarawas  County — 
one  gold,  the  other  silver.  Says  I : 

"Dont  you  see,  Jobe,  in  this  garb  we  ketch  em  a  comin 
and  we  ketch  em  a  goin." 

Says  he:      "Betsy,  do  you  intend  to  wear  them  things 
all  fall?" 

"I  do,"  says  I. 


'The  Dimicratic  bloomers." 


"HKLLO,  MISTUR!" 


148 


BETSY  CASK  INS,  DIMICRAT. 


He  studied  a  minit.  Then, 
lookin  at  me  determined  like, 
says  he : 

"You  needent  look  for  me  home 
to-nite. " 

And  off  he  started. 

As  he  went  he  kept  lookin,  fust 
back  at  me,  then  down  at  his  pants. 

Whether  or  not  he  was  a  thinkin 
that  his  pants  with  their  patches 
represented  the  platform  of  his 
"dear  old  Republican  party"  I 
cant  say.  But  I  jist  thought :  "If 
they  dont  represent  his  party 
platform,  they  are  a  good  standin 
advertisement  of  the  greenbacks 
that  have  been  burnt,  and  the 
bonds  that  have  been  issued,  and 
silver  that  has  been  demonitized 
by  them  within  the  last  thirty 
years." 

Jobe  is  gone,  the  Lord  only 
knows  where,  but  Ive  made  up 
my  mind  to  truly  represent  the 
divided  principles  of  Dimocracy  as  it  now  stands,  if  doin 
so  elects  Coxey  the  next  governor  of  Ohio  and  makes  me 
a  grass  widder  for  life.  Feelin  that  way,  I  am  yours  in 
bloomers. 


"  'We  ketch  em  a  comin  an 
we  ketch  em  a  goin.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

"THEM    POPULISTS." 

I  ME  in  trouble.  Them  Dimicratic  bloomers  seem  bound 
to  split  asunder,  or  worse.  Some  days  there  is  only 
a  stitch  or  two  breaks  out ;  other  days  they  rip  half 
the  length  of  my  arm. 

Every  time  I  think  of  the  high  interest  we  are  payin  and 
have  been  a  payin  for  these  many  years,  of  the  number  of 
times  we  have  changed  officers  from  Dimicrats  to  Repub- 
licans, then  from  Republicans  to  Dimicrats,  back  and 
forth,  time  and  agin,  without  any  change  except  for  the 
worse — every  time  that  I  think  in  all  these  years  not  one 
Dimicrat  or  Republican  officeseeker  or  polertician  has  riz 
up  in  Congress  and  demanded  that  the  law  that  permits 
interest  and  foreclosin  and  sich  be  abolished,  a  stitch  or 
two  lets  go.  Yes,  neither  Dimicrat  or  Republican  has 
ever  proposed  to  abolish  interest  or  in  any  way  make  it 
easier  for  the  hafd-workin  poor  people  to  git  homes  and 
pay  for  them.  And  the  more  I  think  of  what  they  did  do 
that  they  oughtent  a  done,  and  what  they  haint  done  that 
they  ort*a  done,  the  more  I  wonder  that  there  are  enough 
men  left  of  either  of  them,  or,  for  that  matter,  of  both,  to 
hold  a  county  convention. 

But  then  I  spose  its  because  they  are  born  that  way. 

But  talkin  of  my  gold  and  silver  bloomers,  nothin  seems 
to  strain  them  so  much  or  make  as  long  rips  in  them  as  a 
listenin  to  them  Populists  explaihin  Coxey's  "Good  Roads 
Bill "  and  them  bonds  what  wont  draw  any  interest.  When 
I  see  in  my  mind  people  a  needin  work  and  a  gittin  it — 

149 


I5o  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

when  I  can  see  how  under  that  law  Jobe  wouldent  have  to 
spend  time  a  borrowin  tax- money,  but  could  work  for  it, 
them  bloomers  keep  a  gittin  more, obstreperous  all  the  time. 

The  other  nite  at  our  school-house  they  jist  kept  a  rippin 
and  a  rippin  as  speaker  arter  speaker  went  on  a  showin  us 
what  we  haint  got  that  we  ort  to  have  ;  showin  us  how  we 
had  been  a  throwin  our  votes  away  for  these  thirty  years 
or  more ;  showin  us  how  that  votin  for  officeseekers  and 
polerticians  and  votin  for  good  laws  and  good  government 
was  two  different  things;  showin  us  that  while  Jobe  and 
his  likes  has  been  a  doin  the  votin,  the  officeseekers  and 
polerticians  has  been  a  makin  the  laws  that  takes  from  us 
in  taxes  and  interest  what  we  raise,  and  that  it  seems  that 
we  are  willin  to  submit  just  so  long  as  they  will  let  us  keep 
on  a  votin  for  them. 

I  tell  you  its  a  goin  to  take  a  good  deal  of  Brice's  sen- 
atorial soin  thread  to  hold  these  bloomers  together  until 
election  day;  and  arter  election,  sooner  or  later,  I  know 
they  will  split.  That  white  leg  side  hates  the  black  leg 
side  worse  nor  pisen,  and  here  and  there  all  over  the 
white  leg  I  notice  strange-lookin  spots  the  same  color  as 
the  clothes  them  Populists  wear.  And  the  spots  are  a 
growin  and  I  fear  there  will  be  no  bloomer  bizness  when 
them  spots  are  big  enough  to  rule  that  leg. 

If  it  ever  happens  that  all  the  people  who  have  suffered 
from  the  hard  times  that  bad  laws  have  brought  them  go 
to  flockin  together,  and  votin  for  common,  decent  people 
to  make  our  laws,  there  will  be  a  weepin  and  a  wailin 
among  the  high-toned  rulin  class.  The  people  will  quit 
bein  led  around  with  a  ring  in  their  nose  by  the  polerticians 
and  officeseekers  jist  like  Dave  Syke's  Durham  bull.  But 
so  long  as  one  Dimicratic  convention  declares  for  gold  and 
the  other  for  silver,  I  suppose  He  have  to  try  to  hold  my 
bloomers  together. 


'  <  THEM  POPULISTS. "  !  5  ! 

Well,  Jobe  he  come  back  last  Saturday.  He  had  been 
gone  for  two  weeks.  When  I  seen  him  a  comin  up  the 
lane,  I  jist  felt  like  I  use  to  when  I  was  a  girl.  He  dident 
say  a  word  about  my  bloomers,  but  seemed  pleased  like  to 
see  me.  Before  he  got  up  to  the  porch  he  says :  "Hello, 
Betsy!"  and  when  he  got  to  me  he  shook  hands  and  kissed 
me  (the  fust  time  for  nigh  onto  twenty  years) — yes,  sir, 
kissed  me,  and  me  in  bloomers — Dimicratic  bloomers! — 
and  him  a  Republican.  Somehow  it  seems  the  Repub- 


;I  seen   him  a  comin  up  the  lane." 


May- 


licans  do  like  us  Dimicrats  better  than  they  use  to. 

be  its  because  we  all  hate  them  Populists  so. 

Well,  arter  Jobe  had  come  in  and  got  his  supper  and   I 

got  my  work  done  up,  we  went  into  the  front  room  and  sot 

down;   sot   down  to  have  a  talk — to  court  like.      I  had  to 

begin  the  talkin.      Says  I  : 

"Jobe,  where  have  you  been  for  so  long?" 

"Well,    Betsy,"  says  he,    "Ive  been  around  over  the 

country  learnin  all  I  could  about  thorn  Populists.     Do  you 


I52  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  D1MICRAT. 

know,  Betsy,  that  them  Populists  are  jist  made  up  of  a  lot 
of  farmers,  and  school  teachers,  and  doctors,  and  store- 
keepers, and  railroad  hands,  and  mill-workers,  and  coal- 
miners,  and  carpenters,  and  stonemasons,  and  day 
laborers  and  sich?  Do  you  know  that  the  lawyers,  and 
judges,  and  officeholders,  and  bondholders,  and  poler- 
ticians,  and  monopolists,  and  bankers,  and  railroad  officials, 
and  coal  operators,  and  in  fact  nearly  all  the  fust,  high- 
toned  and  leadin  citizens  of  our  country — all  them  that 
dont  work  for  a  livin — them  what  are  smart  enough  to  live 
without  workin — all  sich,  they  dont  belong  to  them  at  all." 

Says  I:     "Is  that  so?" 

"Yes,"  says  he,  "it  is.  And  now,  Betsy,  what  do 
them  Populists  expect  to  do?  Do  they  expect  to  elect 
farmers,  and  school  teachers,  and  merchants,  and 
mechanics,  and  men  what  work  for  a  livin,  as  officers? 

"Do  they  expect  to  have  men  what  haint  got  any  more 
sense  than  to  work  for  a  livin  to  make  our  laws? 

"Do  you  think  farmers  have  sense  enough  to  know  what 
laws  farmers  need? 

"Do  you  suppose  school  teachers  has  sense  enough  to 
know  anything  about  schools? 

"Does  merchants  know  anything  about  the  store-keepin 
bizness? 

"Do  you  suppose  mechanics  and  mill-men  and  miners 
know  anything  about  laborin?  No.  These  men  what  do 
all  these  things  dont  know  anything  about  the  things 
they  do. 

"We  want  lawyers,  and  bankers,  and  railroad  owners, 
and  monopolists,  and  speculators,  and  bondholders,  and 
mine-owners  and  sich  as  our  law-makers.  These  are  the 
fellers  what  know  all  about  farmin  and  teachin,  and  sellin 
goods,  and  diggin  coal,  and  buildin  houses,  and  workin 
mills,  and  makin  things.  Yes,  Betsy,  the  fellers  what  do 


'THE    FUST   TIME    FOR    NK1H    ONTO    TWENTY    YEARS." 


154  BETSY  GA  SKINS,  DIMICRA  T. 

them  things  haint  got  sense  enough  to  know  anything 
about  the  things  they  do.  Its  the  fellers  what  dont  do 
them  that  knows  all  about  them. 

"Now,  Betsy,  this  bein  the  case,  if  you  are  a  goin  to 
wear  bloomers,  I  want  you  to  color  that  white  leg  black 
and  work  for  the  strait  ticket,  so,  if  the  Dimicrats  git  in, 
we  will  have  the  same  kind  of  men  to  make  our  laws  as  we 
would  have  if  the  Republicans  git  in.  We  must  unite  agin 
them  Populists,  Betsy,  or  the  fust  thing  we  know  they  will 
be  a  gittin  in  and  passin  them  laws  what  Coxey  is  wantin 
passed,  and  then  people  what  work  for  a  livin  will  go  to 
askin  $1.50  a  day — and  a  gittin  it.  I  repeat  it,  Betsy,  we 
must  unite." 

I  was  silent. 

Jobe,  continerin,  says  : 

"Betsy,  think  over  this  and  lets  us  two  old  parties  here- 
after live  in  peace  and  unite  our  efforts  in  keepin  things 
jist  as  they  are,  and  not  go  to  complainin  of  hard  times  of 
our  own  makin." 

It  bein  late,  and  not  wishin  to  git  into  a  argament  with 
Jobe  so  soon  arter  his  return  to  my  boozum,  I  retired  in 
silence,  but  I  cant  jist  say  that  I  swaller  all  of  Jobe's  logic 
without  peelin. 

I  think  I  shall  defer  the  colorin  of  that  white  leg  for  a 
few  days,  until  we  have  discussed  the  subject  further,  and 
until  I  have  obtained  the  full  consent  of  the  white  leg  side 
to  the  colorin  act,  remainin  for  the  time  ondecidedly  yourn. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

TROUBLE    WITH    BILLOT. 

r  I  "*HERE  may  be  hopes  of  my  bloomers  survivin  the 

election,  but  I  tell  you  it  takes  stitchin  and  soin  to 

do  it.     That  State  platform  ort  a  been  like  the  county 

platform,  or  else  the  county  platform  like  the  State.     Then 

my  bloomers  would  a  been  all  alike — both  legs  made  of  the 

same  kind  of  stuff — and  wouldent  a  needed  this  whippin 

and  stitchin  and  soin. 

Jobe  is  in  a  fix  agin. 

Our  interest  falls  due  the  2oth  of  October,  and  you 
remember  it  is  payable  in  gold. 

Well,  what  do  you  think?     Jobe  sold  his  hay  and  wheat 


"Billot  jist  laffed  at  him." 

to  Billot,  the  miller,  and  took  Billot's  note  for  $37.60, 
and  yisterday,  when  Jobe  went  to  git  his  money,  Billot 
counted  him  out  paper  money  for  the  amount. 

Jobe  told  him  that  he  wanted  gold. 

Billot  jist  laffed  at  him,  and  told  Jobe  that  paper  money 
\vas  legal  tender  in  sich  bizness  as  this. 

155 


1 56 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"Jobe  he  got  mad  and  called  Billot  a  Populist." 

Jobe  told  him  that  we  was  on  a  "gold  basis,"  and  that 
he  had  to  have  gold  to  pay  Banker  Vinting  his  interest. 

Billot  said  he  had  nothin  to  do  with  Jobe's  interest  or 
Banker  Vinting ;  that  Jobe  could  take  that  paper  money 
or  nothin. 

Jobe  he  got  mad  and  called  Billot  a  crank  and  a  Popu- 
list and  all  sich  terrible  names. 

Then  Billot  ordered  Jobe  out  of  the  mill,  and  Jobe  went 
off  and  sued  Billot  for  $37.60  in  gold. 

Jobe  says  he'll  teach  Billot  that  gold  is  the  money  of 
this  country.  He  says  that  Billot  thinks  that  jist  because 


TROUBLE  WITH  BILLOT. 


157 


he  is  a  old  farmer  that  he  haint  good  enough  to  pay 
gold  to. 

Do  you  think  Jobe  will  git  the  gold  from  Billot? 

I  will  have  to  go  to  the  trial  next  Monday  and  help  Jobe 
inforce  the  law  agin  Billot. 

Jobe  is  a  full-blooded  American  citizen  and  has  voted 
the  strait  ticket  since  he  was  twenty-one,  and  Billot  will 
learn  by  the  time  he  gits  done  with  that  lawsuit  that  this 
gold  basis  bizness  is  for  the  low-toned  people  as  well  as 
the  high-toned  people. 

The  idea  of  paper  money  bein  money! 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

"INFORCIN    THE    LAW    AGIN    BILLOT." 

WHEN  we  got  to  the  trial,  on  Monday,  we  found  our 
witnesses  and  the  witnesses  and  lawyers  of  Billot 
a  talkin,  and  a  laffin,  and  a  whisperin  together. 
They  seemed  to  have  some  deep  subject  which  Dimicrats 
and  Republicans  were  both  in  earnest  about. 

So  I  told  Jobe  to  git  around  among  them  and  listen,  and 
see  if  they  wasent  layin  some  plan  to  gain  the  lawsuit  for 
Billot. 

Soon  arter  Jobe  he  come  in  a  smilin  and  said  : 

"They  haint  a  talkin  about  the  lawsuit  at  all;  they  are 
jist  talkin  together  how  to  beat  them  Populists  at  the 
election  next  month." 

Jobe  seemed  tickled.  He  said  them  lawyers  and  editors 
are  smart  fellers,  and  when  they  git  out  among  them 
ignorant  farmers  and  laborin  class  they'd  soon  settle  all 
that  Populist  argament. 

"There  wont  be  any  change  in  this  country,"  says  he, 
"as  long  as  them  editors  and  lawyers  can  help  it." 

He  said  they  were  goin  at  it  purty  soon,  and  from  what 
he  could  hear  it  dident  make  any  difference  to  these  leadin 
fellers  who  beats,  jist  so  them  Populists  dont  git  in. 

Says  I  to  Jobe  : 

"They  had  better  git  at  it,  for  if  them  Populists  elects  a 
farmer  for  representative,  a  farmer  for  treasurer,  a  farmer 
for  commissioner,  a  coal  miner  for  sheriff,  and  a  mechanic 

for  infirmary  director,  and  they  all  make  good  officers,  the 

158 


"INFORCIN  THE  LAW  AGIN  BILLOT: 


159 


chance  of  them 
lawyers  and  town 
polerticians  hold- 
in  all  the  offices 
hereafter  will  be 
slim." 

"Why,  sich 
people  was  never 
made  to  hold 
office,"  says  Jobe. 

The  squire 
come  in  at  that 
time  and  stopped 
the  argament  be- 
tween Jobe  and 
me. 

The  case  was 
i  "Lawyers  a  talkin  and  a  laffin." 

The  fust  witness  for  our  side  was  Sam  Moore,  editure  ot 
the  Times.  I  questioned  him. 

Question.      "What  is  your  bizness,  Mr.  Moore?" 

Answer.      "Editure  and  polertician,"  says  he. 

Q.      "Do  you  believe  in  the  free  coinage  of  silver?" 

A.  "If  we  can  git  it  inside  the  Dimicratic  party,  I  do. 
If  we  cannot,  I  do  not." 

Q.  "Mr.  Moore,  is  a  treasury  certificate  issued  by  the 
United  States  treasury  money?" 

A.  "Well,  now,  Betsy,  I — I — that  is,  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  answer  that  question  at  this  time.  Cal 
Bri " 

"Hold!  hold!  "  cried  Lawyer  Jim  Patrick,  jumpin  to  his 
feet.  (Patrick  is  Billot's  lawyer.)  Gittin  red  in  the  face 
and  pintin  his  finger  at  Sam,  says  lie  : 

"  Moore,    we  dont  want  Cal    Brice's    name    mentioned 


!6o  BETSY  GASKL\S,  DLMICRAT. 

durin  this  camp — cam — or,  or  lawsuit,  I  mean.  You  know 
as  well  as  I  do  that  he  can  never  git  back  to  the  Senate  if 
we  let  the  people  know  that  he  is  after  the  office."  Then, 
turnin  to  the  squire,  says  he  : 

"I  object  to  the  gentleman  answerin  the  question." 

I  argued  that  all  we  wanted  was  to  git  at  the  truth  ;  that 
we  was  intitled  to  the  truth,  if  gittin  it  defeated  Mr.  Brice 
or  an}'  other  canderdate  for  office. 

But  Jim  he  out-talked  me,  and  the  squire  ruled  that  "  the 
less  said  about  Cal  in  open  meetin  the  better  for  his 
chances."  As  much  as  to  say  that  sometimes  things  could 
be  done  better  by  suppressin  the  truth  than  by  tellin  it. 

I  perceeded : 

Q.  "Mr.  Moore,  how  long  has  it  been  since  you  quit 
advocatin  the  issue  of  'good  old-fashioned  greenback 
paper  money '?  How  long  has  it  been  since  you  said  time 
arter  time  in  your  noosepaper  that  'the  greenback  was  the 
best  money  we  have  ever  had  '  ?  " 

A.  "Well,  Betsy,  I  haint  advocated  paper  money  for 
nigh  onto  a  year.  Not  since  we  decided  that  we  wanted 
Cal  Bri " 

"Hold,  hold!"  shouted  Jim  Patrick  agin.  Says  he, 
jumpin  to  his  feet : 

"Moore,  what  do  you  mean?  Dont  you  know  you  are 
injurin  our  cause?  Dont  you  know  that  if  it  gits  out  that 
Cal  is  a  canderdate  he  will  be  defeated?  Dont  you  know 
if  he  is  defeated  none  of  us  will  git  an  office?  Sam,  I  want 
you  to  bring  his  name  in  this  matter  no  more." 

That  made  Sam  mad.      He  riz  up  and  says,  says  he  : 

"Mr.  Patrick,  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I  am 
under  oath  now,  and  not  a  editin  a  free  silver  paper 
in  the  interest  of  a  gold-bug  canderdate,  nor  am  I  under 
the  control  of  the  Dimicratic  Executive  Committee  while  I 
am  on  this  stand." 


MR.  MOORE,  HOW  LONG  HAS  IT  BEEN  SINCE  YOU  QUIT  ADVOCATIN 
THE  USft  OF  GOOD  OLD-FASHIONED  GREENBACKS?'" 

.16: 


!62  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

Sam  was  gittiu  madder  every  minit. 

So  I  riz  to  my  feet  and  says  : 

"Hear,  hear,  gentlemen,  dont  lets  drag  family  affairs 
into  this  suit  agin  Billot." 

I  saw  they  was  likely  to  give  away  the  secrets  of  my 
party. 

Seein  that  Mr.  Moore  was  excited,  and,  if  pressed,  was 
liable  to  swear  agin  us  instid  of  for  us,  I  excused  him. 

Then  Jim  took  him. 

Q.      "Mr.  Moore,  what  is  money?" 

A.  "Money  is  anything  the  law  says  is  legal  tender  for 
debts." 

Q.  "Mr.  Moore,  are  not  United  States  treasury  notes 
legal  tender?  and  then  are  they  not  money?" 

Sam  begin  to  color  up  agin.     Answerin,  says  he  : 

"Well,  now,  look  here,  Jim,  you  know  what  shape  our 
party  is  in — that  all  the  big  fellers  are  for  a  gold  basis — 
and  you  know,  too,  that  there  is  no  chance  for  any  of  us  to 
git  appinted  to  office  if  we  dont  come  out  for  gold.  You 
know  I  edit  one  of  the  leadin  papers ;  and  you  know  it 
takes  a  great  effort  to  hold  the  party  together.  Now,  Jim, 
dont  you  think  you  had  better  not  make  me  answer  that 
question — under  oath?  Or  if  you  want  me  to  answer  it, 
dont  you  think  you  ort  to  git  this  case  abjourned  till  after 
election  day?" 

Jim  studied  a  minit,  looked  wise  like,  and  says  : 

"Mr.  Moore,  youre  excused." 

Sam  got  down  and  went  out,  mutterin  as  he  went  some- 
thin  about  it  bein  "hard,  these  times,  for  a  truthful  man 
to  be  a  Dimicrat." 

My  next  witness  was  Buckannan. 

Q.      "Buck,  what  is  your  bizness?" 

A.      "Lawyer — Dimicratic  lawyer  and  polertician." 

Q.      "Buck,  what  is  mone)'?" 


•  •  INFORCIN  THE  LAW  A  GIN  BILL  OT,"  163 

A.      "Gold — gold  is  money." 

Q.      "Who  makes  money,  Buck?" 

A.      "God — God  makes  money." 

That  was  all  I  wanted.  Thats  the  kind  of  swearin  I 
wanted  to  inforce  the  law  agin  Billot.  So  I  turned  Buck 
over  to  Patrick. 

Jim  he  looked  Buck  in  the  face  a  minit.  Buck  he 
dropped  his  eyes  shamed  like. 

Then  Jim  perceeded  : 

Q.      "Buck,  what  is  your  bizness  and  polertics?" 

A.  "  Ime  a  lawyer — a  Dimicratic  lawyer  and  poler- 
tician." 

Q.      "Buck,  did  you  ever  study  the  money  question?" 

A.  "No,  sir;  never  did  ;  never  want  to  ;  never  will.  I 
know  enough.  Ime  a  Dimicrat — a  Dimicratic  lawyer — and 
that  suits  me." 

Q.  "Buck,  dont  you  know  that  anything  that  the  law 
says  is  legal  tender  for  debts  is  money?  and  dare  you 
swear  here  under  oath  that  a  paper  bill  issued  by  the 
United  States  treasury  is  not  money?" 

Buck  colored  up  and  looked  hurt  like.      Says  he: 

"Patrick,  you  know  the  condition  our  party  is  in,  and 
you  know  that  our  names  would  be  Dennis  if  Cal — 

"Hold,  hold!"  cried  Jim,  jurnpin  to  his  feet — and,  pintin 
his  forefinger  strait  at  Buck,  vicious  like,  says  he  : 

"Here,  Buck,  dont  you  know  that  Brice  has  instructed 
us  to  mention  his  name  as  little  as  possible.  Now,  I  want 
you  to  answer  this  question  without  any  reference  to  Cal 
or  anybody  else  :  Is  paper  money  money?" 

Poor  Buck,  he  filled  up,  and,  tumbling  like,  says: 

"It  is,  Patrick — it  is." 

And  great  big  tears  rolled  down  his  manly  cheek  and 
dropped  on  the  lapel  of  his  Prince  Albert  coat. 

The  squire  asked  him  what  was  the  matter. 


164 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICKAT. 


'"Lawyer — Dimicratic    lawyer   and    polertician.' 


He  said  he  was  ruined ;  that 
he  had    been    tellin    everybody 
that    "nothin   was    money   but 
gold,"  and  now  if  it  got  out  that 
he   swore   in   the  case  of   Gas- 
kins    agin    Billot     that     paper 
money  is  money,  nobody  would 
believe    him    hereafter.      And, 
poor  man,  he  cried  like  a  child. 
Well,  as  I  had  examined  what 
I  considered  my  strongest  wit- 
nesses,  and   they  dident  swear 
as    they   talked 
to    the    voters, 
but  jist    to  the 
contrary,  I  con- 
cluded    to    end 
the  case  and  let 


the  squire  decide  it.  I  argued  that  nothin  was  money  but 
gold,  showed  how  all  the  noosepapers  said  so,  and  how 
all  the  lawyers  and  polerticians  said  so  (except  when  on 
oath).  I  showed  how  Jobe  had  delivered  good  wheat  and 
hay  to  Billot  and  took  his  note  for  it,  how  Billot  offered 
Jobe  jist  common  paper  money  when  the  note  was  due ; 
showed  how  Jobe  demanded  gold  money  and  nothin  else, 
because  gold  was  the  recognized  money  of  the  world,  and 
closed  by  askin  the  court  to  give  us  judgment  agin  Billot, 
payable  in  gold,  and  to  make  Billot  pay  the  costs.  I 
sot  down. 

Jim  Patrick  got  up  and  said  they  had  no  testimony  to 
offer  except  Jobe  Gaskins'  own  statement  that  Billot  had 
offered  to  pay  him  with  paper  money,  and  now  he  tendered 
to  the  court  the  same  money  Billot  had  offered  to  Gaskins, 
and  asked  for  judgment  agin  Gaskins  for  the  costs. 


»  /.VFOA'C/.V  TIfE  LAW  AGIN'  BILLOT"  165 

The  squire  took  the  money,  counted  it  and  stuck  it  in 
his  pocket,  then  hemmed  and  hawed  a  minit  and  said  that 
Billot  had  made  a  full  legal  tender  of  the  amount  due 
Gaskins,  as  in  his  court  paper  money  allers  had  been 
good  and  he  hoped  it  allers  would  be.  He  then  said: 

"My  judgment  is  in  favor  of  the  defendant  Billot,  with 
the  costs  of  this  case  charged  to  the  plaintiff  Gaskins." 

It  nearly  took  my  breath. 

The  costs  was  §18.60,  all  told. 

The  squire  said  that  paper  money  made  by  the  United 
States  was  real  money,  and  if  a  man  offered  to  pay  a  debt 
with  it,  and  the  man  he  offered  it  to  refused  it  and  tried  to 
make  him  pay  gold,  he  would  have  to  pay  the  cost  for 
tryin  it. 

Instid  of  us  inforcin  the  law  agin  Billot,  it  looks  to  me 
that  we  have  had  the  law  inforced  agin  us. 

Jobe  says  that  Squire  Reed  is  a  anacrist  and  ort  to  be 
hung. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

BETSY    DISCUSSES    "FIAT"    MONEY. 

LAST  Sunday,  arter  I  got  my  dinner  dishes  washed  up 
and  the  kitchen  swept,  I  went  out  in  the  front  yard 
where  Jobe  was.     I  found  him  a  settin  at  the  foot 
of  the  big  apple  tree,  sound  asleep. 

He  had  took  the  noosepaper  with  him  and  sot  down  there 
to  read  why  it  is  better  to  borrow  money  from  Urope 
than  to  make  it  ourselves,  and  had  went  to  sleep  over  it. 
Besides  he  had  been  out  all  the  nite  before  to  a  big 
Republican  rally  and  had  carried  a  banner  sayin : 


GIVE  US  MONEY 
GOOD    IN    UROPE. 


And  the  poor  man  had  to  tramp  three  or  four  miles  through 
the  mud  to  git  to  do  it;  so  I  suppose  he  was  tired — 
tuckered  out,  as  it  were. 

Well,  I  looked  at  him  a  rninit  a  sittin  there  with  his 
head  throwed  back  agin  that  apple  tree,  his  legs  stretched 
out,  his  boots  a  shinin  with  the  fresh  lard  he  had  rubbed 
on  them  jist  afore  dinner,  and  his  honest  old  face  turned 
up  toward  me,  and  I  says  to  myself,  says  I :  "There  sets 
one  of  God's  noblemen,  injoyin  the  sleep  of  innercence. " 
And  then  I  thought  if  I  could  only  git  him  and  his  likes  to 
understand  that  they  are  a  part  of  this  government,  and 
that  the  government  belongs  to  them  and  not  to  those  only 
who  are  rich  and  high-toned — I  say,  I  jist  thought  that  il 

1 66 


BE  TS  Y  DISCUSSES  • '  FIA  T ' '  MONE  Y. 


167 


"He  carried  a  banner." 

I  could  only  git  them  to  see  that  they  had  rights  that  ort 
to  be  respected  and  the  power  to  inforce  them  rights,  what 
a  different  country  this  might  be. 

Thinking  this  and  feelin  the  importance  of  my  duty,  I 
decided  to  begin  to  edicate  him  then  and  there. 

He  has  a  habit  of  gittin  up  and  leavin  me  when  I  begin 
to  talk  to  him  on  things;  so  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I 


!68  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  D1MICRAT. 

would  fix  him  this  time  so  he  couldent  git  away,  and  would 
give  him  some  plain  talk  on  the  money  question. 

I  got  the  rope  I  use  as  a  clothes  line,  and,  slippin  up 
behind  him,  I  wound  it  around  and  around  him  and  the 
tree  from  his  waist  to  his  neck.  He  never  flinched.  Then 
I  got  the  check  lines  from  the  barn,  and,  fastenin  them  to 
his  feet,  I  tied  one  to  one  gate  post  and  one  to  the  other, 
and  with  the  hitchin  strap  I  tied  his  hands  behind  him. 
Then  I  got  a  straw  and  tickled  his  nose. 

You  ort  a  seen  him  try  to  jump  ;  but  he  couldent  move. 

He  opened  his  eyes  and  says  to  me,  skeert  like: 

"Betsy,  what  does  all  this  mean?" 

I  think  he  was  afraid  I  was  a  goin  to  kill  him,  but, 
answerin,  says  I : 

"It  means,  Mr.  Gaskins,  that  I  propose  to  discuss  the 
money  question  here  without  interference  and  without  my 
audience  a  leavin  before  I  git  done,  as  is  its  usual  custom." 

Says  he:     "Betsy,  wont  you  let  me  loose?" 

"Not  till  I  git  done,"  says  I. 

Says  he:  "Why,  I  cant  sit  here  and  listen  to  you  for 
an  hour?" 

"You  cant?"  says  I.  "But  you  will.  You  can  spend 
all  nite,  and  nite  arter  nite,  a  listenin  to  argaments  in  favor 
of  continerin  the  laws  that  makes  prices  low  and  interest 
and  taxes  high — laws  that  keeps  you  poor  and  the  poler- 
ticians  rich — but  you  think  you  cant  spend  a  hour  listenin 
to  a  argament  for  a  law  that  would  make  it  easier  for  3^011 
to  live;  that  would  give  you  better  prices  and  lower 
interest." 

Then,  puttin  my  hands  on  my  hips  and  lookin,  lovin 
like,  down  at  him,  says  I  : 

"Jobe,  dear,  I  guess  you  will  listen  this  time,  and  you 
wont  leave  till  the  speaker  dismisses,  will  you?" 

Says  he,  half  laffin,  half  cryin  : 


BETSY  DISCUSSES  "FJAT"  MONEY.  169 

"It  looks  that  way,  Betsy." 

So  I  went  and  got  me  a  chair,  brought  it  out  and  sot 
down  in  front  of  him.  When  I  got  seated  says  he  : 

"Betsy,  is  it  Dimicrat  or  Republican  argament  that  you 
want  me  to  listen  to?" 

Says  I:  "It  is  neither,  Jobe.  It  is  neither.  It  is 
female — female  argament,  based  on  common  sense  and 
bed-rock  experience.  It  is  the  argament  of  a  lovin  wife  to 
a  errin  husband.  The  argament  of  one  who  knows  there 
is  somethin  wrong  and  has  tried  to  find  somethin  better 
than  what  we  have  got.  Are  you  ready?"  says  I. 

Jobe  tried  to  nod  his  head,  but  couldent.  He  looked 
real  interestin. 

"Perceed  with  the  argament,"  says  he. 

So,  leanin  up  strait  in  my  chair  and  foldin  my  arms  across 
my  boozum,  I  perceeded.  Says  I : 

"Jobe,  what  is  money?" 

"Money?"  says  he.  "Why,  money  is — is — is — why, 
Betsy,  money  is  jist  money." 

Says  I :      "Is  that  all  the  answer  you  can  give?" 

"I  guess  so,"  says  he. 

Then  a  thought  seemed  to  strike  him,  and,  lookin  up 
sudden  like,  says  he  : 

"Why,  money  is  gold — thats  what  money  is." 

I  looked  at  him  a  full  minit.      Then  says  I  : 

"Jobe  Gaskins,  if  money  is  gold,  how  much  money  have 
you  seen  since  you  was  a  baby?  If  money  is  gold,  how 
much  have  you  handled  since  you  become  the  husband  o* 
Betsy  Gaskins?" 

"Why — why,"  says  he,  "I  haint  handled  much  go^d, 
but  I  have " 

"Hold  on,"  says  I.  "Then  you  haint  seen  much 
money,  or  else  somethin  is  money  besides  gold — haint 
that  so?" 


I7o  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

' '  Yes,  I  guess  there  is  some  money  besides  gold, "  says  he. 

"Then  you  agree  that    paper  money  is  money,  do  you?" 

"Yes,  I  reckon  it  is,"  says  he. 

"Well,  then,"  says  I,  "we  will  perceed  with  the  arga- 
ment." 

Jobe  looked  worried.  If  it  hadent  a  been  for  them  ropes 
and  straps,  about  this  time  Jobe  would  a  had  bizness  some- 
where else.  It  seems  that  some  men  get  very  bizzy  about 
the  time  one  is  ready  to  show  them  how  they  can  help 
themselves.  But,  havin  full  confidence  in  that  clothes 
line,  I  went  on. 

"Money,"  says  I,  "is  somethin  made  by  one's  govern- 
ment that  we  git  when  we  dispose  of  somethin  we  have. 
If  you  sell  somethin  direct  to  the  government  and  the 
government  gives  you  money  for  it,  it  is  the  same  as  a 
receipt  from  the  people  that  they  have  received  from  you 
somethin  of  so  much  value — and  it  at  the  same  time  is  an 
order  on  all  the  people  for  them  to  give  you  whatever  you 
want  of  equal  value.  The  officers  that  make  the  money 
and  do  the  bizness  is  merely  the  agents  of  a  big  company 
of  people  known  as  the  United  States,  and  each  man,  be 
he  rich  or  poor,  is  a  member  of  the  firm.  Instid  of  havin 
our  money  (that  is  these  receipts)  signed  by  every  member 
of  the  company,  which  would  require  a  very  large  piece  of 
paper,  we  have  a  stamp,  and  say  to  our  agents  or  officers 
for  them  to  put  that  stamp  on  our  money  and  we  will  stand 
by  it.  The  placin  of  that  stamp  on  a  piece  of  paper  by 
the  right  officers  is  the  same  as  if  all  the  twelve  million 
men  had  signed  it,  and  the  women  too. 

"So,  if  you  sell  the  government  say  $10  worth  of  oats 
to  feed  our  army  mules  on,  or  if  you  do  $10  worth  of  work 
a  keepin  books  or  a  holdin  office  or  a  bankin  up  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  you  git  a  $10  bill  for  it — that  bill, 
or  your  havin  of  that  bill,  says  that  you  as  a  individual 


BE TS Y  DISCUSSES  « ' F1A 7"'  MONE Y. 


171 


''  M 

I  I  •       '  1*1 

I 


T 
'  \('  <('lT'¥lf    "     " 

"I  got  a  straw  and  tickled  his  nose." 

have  delivered  to  all  the  balance  of  the  seventy  million 
people— to  the  company,  if  you  please— £10  worth  of  value, 
and  hold  their  paper  for  it.  Now,  if,  arter  you  git  that  $10 
from  all  the  people,  you  go  to  Alick  Smith  and  buy  his 


172  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT, 

Chester  White  brood  sow  and  give  him  the  $10  for  her, 
your  claim  aginst  all  the  people  has  passed  from  you  to 
him — he  has  the  receipt  for  the  value  you  delivered  the 
government  and  you  have  his  sow.  And,  bein  a  good 
citizen,  he  takes  the  paper  $10,  because  the  value  you  gave 
the  government  was  in  part  for  him,  and  the  $10  is  an  order 
to  him  as  one  of  the  twelve  million  or  more  pardners. 
And  you  bein  one  of  the  twelve  million,  you  are  one  of  the 
firm  also,  and  stand  ready  to  accept  that  same  $10  for  any- 
thing you  may  have  to  sell  that  Alick  Smith  might  want." 

Jobe  seemed  to  be  a  gittin  interested. 

"Then,"  says  I,  "we  will  say  that  Alick  would  go  to 
town  and  buy  two  gallons  of  John  Schwab's  rye  whiskey. 
John  takes  the  bill  for  the  same  reason  that  Alick  did. 
Well,  John  bein  a  licker  dealer,  we — that  is,  all  the  people — 
charge  him  $25  a  year  for  sellin  rye  whiskey  and  sich.  So 
John  sends  that  same  $10  to  the  revenue  collector  at  Cleve- 
land for  his  revenue  tax.  The  revenue  collector  sends  it 
to  the  treasury  at  Washington,  where  it  was  made,  and 
where  it  fust  come  from.  Haint  it  been  redeemed?  Haint 
that  money?  John  Schwab  paid  for  the  work  you  done,  or 
for  the  oats  the  government  mules  eat,  and  paid  for  it  with 
the  receipt  you  got  for  the  oats  or  the  work. 

"Now,  suppose  nothin  was  money  but  gold,  and  the 
government  couldent  issue  sich  receipts  or  orders,  or 
whatever  you  want  to  call  them,  and  suppose  the  govern- 
ment dident  have  any  gold — so  then  you  couldent  sell  your 
oats,  nor  you  couldent  git  the  work  to  do  on  the  river 
bank,  and  you  wouldent  git  any  money.  If  you  couldent 
git  the  money  you  couldent  buy  Alick's  sow ;  if  Alick 
couldent  sell  his  sow  he  couldent  buy  Schwab's  whiskey ; 
if  Schwab  couldent  sell  his  whiskey  he  couldent  pay 
revenue  tax,  and  when  people  cant  pay  revenue  tax  the 
government  gits  hard  up  and  has  to  borrow  money. 


BE TS Y  DISCUSSES  ' •  FIA  7' ' '  tiONE  Y.  x  7 3 

"Now,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "honest  injun,  which  do  you 
think  would  be  the  best :  to  make  what  money  this  firm  of 
the  United  States  needs  or  to  keep  on  a  goin  deeper  and 
deeper  in  debt  a  borrowin  money? 

"Speak  out,"  says  I.      "Haint  that  good  money?" 

Jobe  studied  a  minit. 

"Y-a-s,"  says  he,  "but  haint  that  fiat  money?" 

"Yes,  sir,"  says  I,  "that  is  fiat  money,  and  fiat  money 
is  the  only  honest,  true  money  we  can  have.  Any  other 
kind  is  a  deceit  and  a  fraud." 

Jobe  twisted  and  would  have  got  away  if  he  hadent  a 
been  tied.  As  he  couldent  git  away  he  snorted  out : 

"What  good  would  that  money  be  in  Urope?" 

"The  very  best  that  could  be  made,  so  far  as  you  and 
your  likes  are  concerned,"  says  I. 

"Whats  its  basis?  Whats  its  basis?"  says  he,  "a 
hundred  cent  gold  dollars  or  fifty  cent  silver  dollars?" 

"Neither,"  says  I.  "And  as  long  as  we  have  so  many 
grains  of  gold  or  so  many  grains  of  silver  or  so  many 
grains  of  both  as  a  basis,  you  and  your  likes  will  be  a  payin 
high  interest  with  low-priced  grain." 

"What!"  says  he,  "no  standard!  How  are  you  to  tell 
what  your  dollar  is  worth?" 

"We  will  have  a  standard,  Jobe,  and  the  best  standard 
in  the  world,  and  the  dollar  will  always  be  worth 
one  hundred  cents,  and  each  cent  will  be  worth  ten 
mills." 

Jobe  looked  puzzled,  but  inquirin  like. 

"Now,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "dont  you  know  that  the  law  that 
says  that  the  dollar  shall  be  of  the  value  of  so  many  grains 
of  silver  or  so  many  grains  of  gold  is  what  makes  every- 
thing you  raise  low  in  price?  Rich  people  can  make  the 
gold  or  silver  scarce  and  dear,  and  that  makes  every  dollar, 
either  paper  or  metal,  dear  also,  and  the  dearer  the  dollars 


174  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIM1CRAT. 

the  more  of  your  grain  or  the  more  of  your  work  it  takes 
to  git  them. 

"Now,  what  ort  to  be  done  is  this  :  Make  a  law  callin 
in  all  the  gold  and  silver  money,  and  redeem  it  in  paper 
money,  dollar  for  dollar,  the  same  kind  of  money  I  spoke 
about  a  while  ago ;  give  them  only  six  months  to  turn  it  in, 
and  therearter  let  neither  gold  nor  silver  be  money  or  a 
legal  tender.  And  if  any  of  them  Wall  Street  gold  sharks 
want  to  hang  on  to  their  gold  money  let  em  hang,  and 
they  will  find  that  they  will  have  to  sell  it  for  old  metal. 
Arter  the  government  gits  it  redeemed  let  us  sell  it  to  the 
jewelers  and  spoonmakers  to  make  watches  and  spoons 
out  of. 

"And  instid  of  the  law  a  sayin  that  eacli  dollar  shall  be 
of  the  value  of  so  many  grains  of  useless  metal,  let  it  say 
that  'The  Dollar  shall  be  of  the  value  of  sixty  pounds  of  wheat 
in  the  Chicago  market. '  * 

"Now,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "if  the  law  said  that  the  dollar 
should  be  of  the  value  of  sixty  pounds  of  wheat  in  the 
Chicago  market,  what  would  be  the  value  of  a  dollar?" 

Jobe  studied  a  minit  and  then  looked  up  sudden  like,  as 

*Nort:. — This  may  strike  the  ordinary  reader  as  a  strange  proposition. 
Some  of  those  who  have  studied  the  philosophy  of  money  may  differ  from 
Betsy  and  claim  that  the  unit  of  value  should  be  a  day's  labor.  There  are 
various  good  reasons,  however,  which  make  Betsy's  suggestion  appear  not 
only  plausible,  but  expedient  and  logical. 

By  making  a  bushel  of  wheat  the  unit  of  value  we  could  establish  not 
only  the  value  of  the  dollar,  but  also  the  price  of  wheat,  and  of  nearly  all 
other  commodities.  As  a  rule  a  bushel  of  wheat  is  worth  two  bushels  of 
corn,  three  bushels  of  oats,  four  pounds  of  wool,  ten  pounds  of  cotton,  etc. 
This  price  ratio  of  wheat  to  other  commodities  varies  very  little.  Prices  of 
other  things  rise  and  fall  with  the  price  of  wheat. 

Betsy's  plan  would  raise  the  price  of  wheat  and  of  all  other  farm  prod- 
ucts, and,  consequently,  would  make  farming  more  remunerative.  By 
making  farming  more  profitable  it  would  start  more  people  farming,  and 
thus  relieve  the  overcrowded  labor  markets  of  the  great  cities.  The  farm- 
ers, obtaining  better  prices  for  their  products,  would  be  able  to  consume 
more  of  the  products  of  the  factory.  The  increased  demand  for  factory 
products  would  give  work  to  the  unemployed  and  raisi:  wages  in  all  the 


BETSY  D/SCUSSES  "FIAT"  J/u.Y/-: y.  175 

if  something  had  broke  loose  in  his  mind,  and  says  he  : 

"Why,  it  would  be  of  the  value  of  sixty  pounds  of 
wheat." 

"Well,    then,"   says   I,    "what   would   be   the   value  of 
sixty  pounds  of  wheat  in  Chicago?" 
•    "Why — why,"  says  he,  "it  would  be  worth  a  dollar." 

"What  would  be  the  price  of  wheat  west  of  Chicago?" 
says  I. 

"A  leetle  less  than  a  dollar,"  says  he. 

"What  would  be  the  price  of  wheat  east  of  Chicago?" 
says  I. 

"Why,  a  leetle  more  than  a  dollar,"  says  he. 

"You  are  a  good  scholar,"  says  I.      "You  are  a  larnin." 

He  tried  to  git  loose  agin,  but  failed. 

"But — but,"  says  he,  "what  good  would  sich  money  be 
in  Urope?  Would  that  money  be  good  anywhere  in  the 
world?" 

"There  you  go  agin,"  says  I.  "I  haint  got  to  Urope 
yit.  We'll  go  to  Urope  purty  soon." 

"Yes,  but  that  would  be  fiat  money,"  says  he. 

"Yes,  sir,  it  would,"  says  I,  "and  the  sooner  you  and 
your  likes  git  up  to  that  word  'fiat,'  and  touch  your 

industries.  Under  these  conditions,  with  our  money  system  on  a  proper 
basis,  and  with  trusts  and  monopolies  obliterated,  as  they  soon  would  be, 
we  would  need  no  labor  unions  to  maintain  the  wage  scale.  Labor  \voul<l 
no  longer  crouch  at  the  feet  of  its  creature,  Wealth,  and  strikes  would  he  u 
thing  of  the  barbarous  past.  On  the  other  hand,  the  workingman  of  the 
city  cannot  prosper  so  long  as  the  farmer  is  not  prosperous. 

Again,  if  one  day's  labor  will  produce  two  and  one-half  or  three  bushels 
of  wheat,  and  each  bushel  is  of  the  value  of  one  dollar,  then  a  day's  labor 
will  be  worth  $2.50  or  $3.00.  Then  will  wages  begin  to  go  up,  more  help 
will  be  employed,  more  products  will  be  consumed,  and  soon  "surplus 
labor"  and  "overproduction"  will  be  heard  of  only  in  the  reminiscences 
with  which  we  as  grandparents  will  entertain  the  curious  of  the  next 
generation. 

It  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  at  the  time  this  chapter  is  being  put 
into  type  (May,  1897)  news  conies  over  the  wires  that  the  Russian  minister 
at  Washington  has  submitted  a  proposition  that  the  governments  of  the 
United  States  and  Russia  jointly  fix  the  price  of  wheat. — ED. 


1 76  BETSY  GA  SKINS,  DLMICRA  7 '. 

nose  to  it  and  smell  of  it — the  sooner  you  pick  it  up  and 
look  at  it  and  examine  it,  the  sooner  you  will  find  that 
instid  of  bein  a  curse  it  will  be  a  blessin  to  you." 

"Fiat  money  is  money  made  by  you  and  the  balance  of 
the  people  that  makes  this  government.  You  make  it  by 
puttin  your  great  stamp  on  it,  and  each  one  of  you  what 
are  fit  to  be  citizens  stand  ready  to  defend  it  and  uphold 
it  with  your  lives  if  need  be.  It  is  made  by  you  havin 
printed  and  stamped  on  money  paper  the  followin  : 

"'This  is  one  dollar,  a  full  legal  tender  for  all  debts, 
public  and  private,  receivable  for  all  taxes,  duties  and 
customs ;  and  any  money-lender,  bondholder  or  other 
citizen  of  these  United  States  who  attempts  to  dishonor  or 
discredit  this  bill  shall  be  deemed  a  traitor,  and  if  found 
guilty  of  such  attempt  shall  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until 
dead.'" 

"Dont  you  think  that  would  be  a  little  seveer,  Betsy?" 
says  Jobe. 

"Seveerness  of  that  kind — seveerness  for  them  what  are 
bound  to  rule  this  country  for  their  own  benefit  or  ruin  it — 
is  what  we  need,  and  the  sooner  we  git  it,  and  the  more 
of  it  that  we  git,  the  better,"  says  I. 

So,  perceedin  with  the  argament,  says  I : 

"Now,  Jobe,  we'll  go  to  Urope." 

"Well,  hold  on,"  says  Jobe,  "lemme  loose  fust." 

"Not  till  we  git  through  Urope,"  says  I,  determined  like. 

"Well,  shove  off,  then,"  says  he. 

I  did  so  by  sayin  : 

"Jobe,  would  it  skeer  you  if  I  was  to  tell  you  that  the 
money  what  is  good  anywhere  in  the  world  is  the  very 
money  that  we  as  a  people  dont  want?" 

I  put  my  elbows  on  my  knees  and  leaned  over  and 
looked  him  square  in  the  eyes  to  note  the  effect  of  my 
question. 


BE  TS  V  DISCUSSL  S  >  TIA  7  " '    MONE  Y. 


177 


He  looked  at  me,  starin  like,  for  a  whole  minit. 
Says  I :  "How  does  it  strike  you,  Jobe?" 
Says  he:  "Betsy,  have  you  been  a  drinkin?" 
"Yes,  sir,"  says  I,  "Ive  been  a  drinkin — a  drinkin  in 
the  sad,  hard  experience  of  the  last  thirty  years — a  drinkin 
the  dregs  of  poverty,  hardship  and  trouble  caused  by  low 
prices  and  high  interest — caused  by  havin  money  so  good 
anywhere  else  in  the  world  that  the  only  way  we  can  git  it 
back  when  once  it  gits  away  is  to  borrow  it  back,  and  put 
ourselves  in  bonds  to  do  it.  And,  Jobe,  when  I  say  that 
the  'mone}'  thats  good  anywhere  in  the  world'  is  the  very 
money  that  we  as  a  nation  dont  want  to  use,  I  am  a  talkin 
sober,  hard  sense.  We  want  money  that  will  come  back  to  us 
and  buy  our  wheat  and  corn  and  oats  and  sich,  instid  of 
goin  to  Roosia  and  Germany  and  France  and  India  and 
buyin  their  stuff.  What  we  want  is  money  that  is  the  best 
for  America,  whether  it  is  good  for  any  other  part  of  the 
world  or  not. 

"As  it  is  now,  Jobe,  when  we  pay  the  $300,000,000  a 
year  interest  to  Urope,  or  when  our  high-toned  people  buy 
their  Uropean  clothes  and  sich  and  give  our  gold  and  silver 
for  them,  them  Urope  fellers  takes  that  gold  and  silver  and 
go  to  Roosia  and  Germany  and  France  and  India  and  other 
countries  and  buy  what  wheat  and  flour  and  oats  and  corn 
and  meat  and  cotton  and  cattle  and  wool  and  manufactured 
goods  they  need,  while  our  wheat  and  our  cotton  and  our 
wool  and  sich  lays  in  the  warehouses  along  our  seashores 
a  waitin  a  market.  And  while  it  lays  there  a  waitin  a 
market  our  farmers  are  gittin  lower  prices  and  our  workin- 
men  lower  wages,  or  goin  idle,  which  is  worse. 

"Now,  if  we  paid  that  interest  with  money  that  was  not 
good  in  Roosia  and  Germany  and  France ;  if  our  rich 
people  had  to  pay  for  their  fine  stuff  with  common  every- 
day paper  money,  each  dollar  of  which  was  of  the  value  of 


178  BETSY  GAS1CJNS,  DIMICRAT. 

sixty  pounds  of  wheat — money  that  couldent  be  melted  up 
and  made  into  Roosian  money  or  French  money  or  Dutch 
money  or  Indian  money — if  them  Urope  fellers  would  have 
to  send  the  money  they  git  from  us  back  here  to  git  its 
value  in  breadstuffs  or  grub  or  clothes  or  somethin  our 
workinmen  make,  dont  you  think  our  warehouses  would 
be  emptied?  And  when  our  warehouses  are  emptied 
wouldent  it  require  work  to  fill  them  agin?  And  haint 
honest  work  what  our  people  need  and  ort  to  have? 

"So,  Jobe,  you  can  see  that  if  them  three  hundred 
million  interest  money  was  made  out  of  paper  and  sent  to 
Urope  to  pay  that  interest;  if  the  money  spent  there  by 
our  rich  people  and  all  was  good  greenback  paper  money, 
redeemable  in  wheat  and  flour  and  corn  and  oats  and 
cotton  and  manufactured  goods  of  all  kinds  made,  raised 
and  produced  in  the  United  States,  and  they  had  to  send 
it  back  here  to  git  its  value,  instid  of  sendin  to  Roosia  and 
them  other  countries  to  buy  their  stuff,  and  them  ware- 
houses would  be  emptied,  you  would  find  more  demand 
for  the  wheat  you  raise  to  fill  them  agin,  you  would  find 
prices  a  raisin  and  times  a  gittin  better." 

Jobe  was  a  thinkin  hard. 

Says  I :      "Jobe,  can  you  see  the  cat?" 

Jobe  was  silent.  The  wheels  in  his  head  was  a  beginnin 
to  turn  and  he  was  a  listenin  to  their  moosic.  Finally 
sa3's  he : 

"Why,  Betsy,  if  each  of  them  dollars  was  worth  sixty 
pounds  of  wheat  at  Chicago  and  sixty  pounds  of  wheat 
was  worth  a  dollar,  what  would  our  leadin  men  what  make 
a  livin  and  git  rich  a  speculatin  in  wheat  do?  They 
couldent  force  it  up  nor  force  it  down.  What  would  they 
do?"  says  he. 

Says  I :  "They  would  be  like  lots  of  fellers  who  haint 
leadin  citizens  are  to-day — they  would  be  a  huntin  a 


BETSY  DISCUSSES    "FIAT"    MONEY.  ijg 

job,  and  would  have  to  ingage  in  some  honest  okepation." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  Jobe,  "is  that  Populist  argament?" 

"No,  Jobe,"  says  I,  "it  haint  Populist  argament;  it  is 

the  argament   of  a   plain,  old-fashioned   female  woman — 

the  one  that   thinks  more  of  you  than  all  the  polerticians 

piled  in  one  pile — and  I  hope  you  will  think  on  it." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "if  it  haint  Populist  it  seems 
to  me  that  it  is  worth  thinkin  about." 

So,  havin  for  one  time  held  Jobe  down  to  a  finish  and 
got  him  to  thinkin,  I  unloosed  the  rope  and  straps,  kissed 
him  out  loud  on  the  cheek  and  let  him  up. 

He  riz  up,  stretched  out  his  legs  and  arms,  gapped  a 
time  or  two  and  says  : 

"Betsy,  line  glad  you  tied  me  down." 
Then  he  went  out  to  do  up  the  evenin  chores. 
Now,  if  I  could  only  keep  Jobe  away  from  them  office- 
seekers    and    polerticians ;    if    I    could    only   keep   him  a 
thinkin,  I  would  have  some  hopes;   but  as  it  is,  no  tellin 
how  soon  the  good  lesson  of  his  wife  may  be  overcome  by 
a  smooth-tongued  canderdate. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

JOBE    BLOWS    A    FISH-HORN. 

JOBE  has  been  so  busy  tryin  to  git  Mr.  Bushnell,  the 
millionair,  elected  governor,  that  he  forgot  about  his 
interest  bein  due  at  the  bank.  He  stayed  to  town  the 
nite  of  the  election  till  the  chickens  were  crowin  for  daylite. 

It  was  nearly  mornin  when  I  heerd  the  patriotic  sounds 
of  the  fish-horn. 

I  got  up  and  looked  out  of  the  winder,  and  there  was 
Jobe  a  comin  up  the  lane,  with  his  breadbasket  stuck  out 
and  his  head  throwed  back,  blowin  that  fish-horn  as  though 
his  life  depended  on  it,  and  every  now  and  then  he  would 
stop,  take  off  his  hat  and  holler  for  Bushnell,  jist  as  loud 
as  he  could  holler. 

Well,  he  come  in  and  acted  the  fool  worse  nor  a  drunk 
man,  till  he  nearly  wore  my  patience  out. 

He  said  the  gold  basis  bizness  had  succeeded  and  now 
one  dollar  was  jist  as  good  as  another,  and  asked  me  if  I 
wasent  ashamed  that  I  was  a  Dimicrat,  and  all  sich  fool 
questions. 

Well,  he  got  to  bed  at  last  and  went  to  sleep,  and  in  the 
mornin  dident  want  to  git  up;  so  I  jist  let  him  lay. 

About  9  o'clock  a  feller  rid  up  to  our  gate  and  hitched, 
come  to  the  door  and  asked  if  this  is  where  Mr.  Gaskins 
lives.  Says  I  : 

"It  is  where  Jobe  Gaskins  lives." 

He  handed  me  a  paper  and  told  me  to  give  it  to  Mr. 
Gaskins. 

I  took  it  in  and  waked  Jobe  up  and  got  him  his  ' '  specks. " 

1 80 


"IT   WAS   NEARLY   MORNIN   WHEN    I    HEERD  THE   PATRIOTIC  SOUNDS 
OF  THE  FISH-HORN." 

181 


182 


BETSY  GASK1NS,   DIMICRAT. 


"He  looked  kind  a  pale.' 


He  unfolded  the  paper  and 
read  it  over  to  hisself.  I  saw 
he  was  worked  up.  Says  I : 

"What  is  it,  Jobe — an  ap- 
pintment  from  Bushnell?" 

He  looked  kind  a  pale. 
Says  he  : 

"No,  Betsy,  its  a  summons 
to  court  in  the  case  of  Vinting, 
the  banker,  agin  Gaskins ;  he 
has  begun  foreclosin  proceed- 
ins  agin  us,  Betsy." 

I  looked  at  him  a  minit. 
He  dident  look  up. 

Says  I:  "The  official  re- 
turns are  comin  in  quite  airly, 
haint  they?" 

I  then  went  back  to  the 
door,  and  the  court  officer  was 
gone. 


Poor  Jobe  got  up  in  a  little  bit,  lookin  worried. 

When  he  come  out  in  the  kitchen  I  handed  him  his 
fish-horn  and  says,  says  I  : 

"Give  us  a  tune,  Jobe." 

He  dident  offer  to  toot  a  toot.      He  jist  looked  hurt. 

Well,  from  that  day  to  this  he  has  been  tryin  to  raise 
the  money  to  pay  Vinting,  the  banker,  his  interest.  After 
payin  all  them  costs  in  the  Billot  lawsuit  there  was  very 
little  left  out  of  that  wheat  and  hay  money,  sich  as  it  was. 

He  sold  our  cow,  and  nearly  all  our  pertaters,  and  then 
sold  old  Tom,  our  only  hoss,  and  borrowed  $5.50  from 
Widder  Baker,  when  she  got  her  penshun  money,  and  took 
that  $63  down  to  Banker  Vinting  and  handed  it  to  him  at 
his  bank.  Vinting  pushed  it  back  to  Jobe  and  says,  says  he  : 


JOBE  BLOWS  A   FISH- HORN.  183 

"This  is  not  accordin  to  contract.  The  contract,  Mr. 
Gaskins,  says  you  must  pay  the  interest  in  gold.  I  must 
have  gold.  Gold — Mr.  Gaskins." 

Jobe  told  him  he  "had  no  gold,  that  this  money  was  all 
good,  legal  tender  government  money,  and  he  would  have 
to  take  it " 

Banker  Vinting  told  him,  "Gold  or  nothin." 

Jobe  went  around  to  all  the  stores  in  town  and  to  all  his 
friends  and  tried  to  git  gold  for  the  paper  money,  and  not 


"'Give  us  a  tune,  Jobe.'" 

one  of  them  had  a  dollar  in  gold  to  help  him  out  with. 
Everybody  said  they  "hadent  seen  any  gold  for  a  lon£ 
time  ;"  that  "  paper  money  was  good  enough  for  them  ;  that 
they  was  glad  to  git  even  it,  these  times." 

So  Jobe  come  home,  and  he  haint  got  that  gold  yit,  and 
the  Lord  only  knows  when  and  where  he  can  git  it.  I  dont. 

Jobe  he  is  nearly  distracted. 

Now,  if  the  law  makes  Jobe  take  Billot's  paper  money 
for  wheat,  I  dont  see  why  the  same  law  wont  make  the 


184 


BETSY  GASKIKS,  E>  I  MIC  RAT. 


banker  take  the  same  paper  money  for  interest,  especially 
when  a  feller  cant  git  any  other  kind.  If  the  banker  wont 
take  Jobe's  paper  money,  all  I  know  is  for  him  to  go  on 
with  his  lawsuit  to  foreclose  us — until  the  court  makes  him 
take  it. 

We  cant  do   anything  else.      It  jist  seems  the  world  is 
full  of  trouble  and  sich. 


"'This  is  not  accordin  to  contract.'  " 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

AT    COURT    AGAIN. 

r  I  "*HE  lawsuit  to  foreclose  us  out  of  our  home  is  bein 

tried  to-day.     We   borrowed   Ike  Hill's   gray  mare 

and  driv  to  town  airly,  and  found  the  lawyers  hangin 

around  like  buzzards  waitin  for  the  arrival  of  a  dead  beast. 

They  begin  to  meet  us  and  shake  hands  from  the  time 
we  hitched  in  front  of  Urfer's  big  dry-goods  store  until  we 
got  clear  inside  the  fence  that  surrounds  the  judge's  seat 
and  divides  the  high-toned  cattle  from  the  low-toned  breed. 
They  all  wanted  to  know  if  we  had  "ingaged  counsel." 

When  I  told  them  that  our  family  had  counsel  of  its 
own  blood,  in  the  person  of  myself,  Betsy  Gaskins,  wife  of 
Jobe  Gaskins,  the  defendant,  they  would  kind  a  sneer  and 
walk  off.  They  looked  hurt  like,  jist  as  a  feller  does  when 
he  loses  a  ten-dollar  bill. 

These  lawyers  seem  kind  a  anxious  that  the  people  who 
are  bein  foreclosed  should  have  "counsel,"  but  I  could 
never  see  where  "havin  counsel "  changes  the  foreclosin 
act  any. 

Well,  we  got  inside  the  lawyers'  field,  the  officer  opened 
court  and  the  judge  called  the  case  of  "Vinting,  plaintiff, 
vs.  Gaskins,  defendant,  for  money  only."  Says  he: 

"Are  the  parties  to  the  case  ready  for  trial?" 

Jim  Patrick,  the  lawyer,  nodded  his  head  and  says, 
"Ready,"  without  even  takin  his  feet  off  the  table. 

I  dident  have  my  feet  on  the  table.  But  when  the  judge 
looked  our  way  I  nodded  and  says,  "Ready." 

I  hadent  that  word  out  of  my  mouth  till  Lawyer  Porter 
riz  to  his  feet,  and,  addressin  the  court,  says : 

185 


186 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"We  hitched  in  front  of  Urfer's  big  dry  goods  store." 

"If  your  honor  please,  on  behalf  of  the  'bar'  of  this 
county,  I  object  to  Mrs.  Betsy  Gaskins  a  practicin  law 
before  this  court. 

"I  object  for  three  reasons:  First,  because  she  is  a 
woman;  second,  because  she  has  not  been  admitted  to 
practice  in  this  court ;  third,  because  it  interferes  with  the 
legitimate  profits  of  the  legal  fraternity  of  this  county. 

"If  your  honor  please,  as  you  well  know,  the  lawyers  of 
this  county  have  no  other  source  of  income  than  from  the 
parties  to  the  cases  brought  to  this  court,  and  if  women 
and  persons  who  have  not  been  admitted  to  the  bar  are 
permitted  to  practice  in  this  court,  our  bizness  will  be 
ruined,  and  some  of  us,  at  least,  will  have  to  go  to  workin 
for  a  livin ;  therefore  I  object  to  permittin  this  woman  to 
farther  participate  in  this  case,  and  in  doin  so  I  voice  the 
sentiment  of  every  member  of  this  bar." 

T  riz  up. 


AT  COURT  AGAIN. 


187 


The  judge  looked  at  me,  steady  like,  over  his  specks,  as 
if  he  was  a  goin  to  tell  me  to  set  down.  Says  I  : 

"Mistur  Court,  may  I  speak?" 

He  looked  around  at  the  bar.  Several  heads  went  east 
and  west.  The  judge  thought  a  minit  and  says : 

"You  may  speak." 

Perceedin,  says  I :  "Mistur  Court,  I  am  the  lawful  wife 
of  Jobe  Gaskins,  the  man  you  are  asked  to  foreclose  and 
turn  out  of  the  home  he  has  tried  hard  to  hold.  We  are 
old  people.  We  are  poor.  Times  are  hard  and  money  is 


"•Ready."' 

scarce,  and,  bein  called  here  without  our  choosin,  we  came 
without  money  to  pay  anything  toward  the  support  of  the 
'bar'  the  lawyer  spoke  about. 

"All  we  ask,  Mistur  Court,  is  to  be  heard.  We  want  to 
save  our  old  home  if  we  can  do  so.  All  I  ask  is,  if  there 
is  any  speakin  that  can  be  done  to  persuade  you  that  we 
hadent  ort  to  be  turned  out,  that  you  let  me  do  that 
speakin,  because  I  feel  that  I  can  tell  you  what  we  would 
suffer,  and  why  we  hadent  ort  to  be  turned  out,  as  honestly 
and  as  earnestly  as  any  lawyer  could  who  was  talkin  for 
only  a  few  dollars  pay. 


i88 


BETSY  GASKIXS,  DIMICRAT. 


"God  knows,  Mistur  Court,  that  what  I  shall  say  to  you 
will  not  be  prompted  by  a  few  dollars,  but  by  the  love  I 
have  for  the  roof  that  has  sheltered  us,  for  the  fire  that 
has  warmed  us,  and  those  things  about  the  place  that  has 
caused  a  lump  to  come  up  in  my  throat  whenever  I  think 
we  may  soon  have  to  leave  them  forever,  or  when  I  wonder 
where  we  would  go  if  you  say,  Mistur  Court,  that  we  must 
be  foreclosed. 

"I  know  I  am  a  woman — a  old  woman.  I  haint  a 
regular  lawyer,  but  I  ask  to  do  the  speakin  in  this  case, 
because  we  haint  the  money  to  pay  any  of  these  regular 
lawyers  to  do  it,  and  God  knows  we  have  always  tried  to 
pay  for  everything  we  have  ever  got  or  had  done  for  us." 
I  sot  down. 

The  judge  set  a  studyin  ;  finally  says  he : 
"Mr.  Sheriff,  adjourn  court  until  1:30  o'clock  p.  m." 
And   that  is  where  the  lawsuit  is  at  this  hour.      I  am 
waitin  to  see  if  I  will  be  allowed  to  speak.     Yours  at  court. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

JUDGMENT    KKNDKRED. 

THE  lawsuit  is  over.      The  decidin   is  done,  and  we 
are   foreclosed.      My  heart   has   been  so  heavy  and 
Ive  been  so  troubled  that  I  jist  couldent  set  down 
and  write  a  letter  with  any  sense  to  it  till  to-day. 

You  dont  know  how  bad  it  makes  a  body  feel  to  know 
the  place  you  have  looked  on  and  loved  as  home  is  a  gittin 
away  from  you — slippin  from  under  you,  as  it  were. 
Everything  seems  to  change.  Jobe,  poor  man,  he  jist 
sets  and  studies. 

Well,  that  day  at  court,  arter  dinner,  the  judge  come  in, 
took  his  seat,  ordered  court  opened,  and  says,  lookin  at  me  : 

"Mrs.  Gaskins,  I  have  decided  to  let  you  argy  this  case." 

At  that  all  them  lawyers  except  Jim  Patrick,  the  one 
doin  the  foreclosin,  got  up  and  left  the  house. 

When  everything  was  ready  Jim  he  got  up  and  handed 
in  the  mortgage  and  the  notes,  and  stated  that  he  would 
prove  by  those  papers  that  last  Aprile  Jobe  and  Betsy 
Gaskins  executed  notes  and  a  mortgage  to  Mr.  Vinting, 
the  banker,  for  the  sum  of  $1,800,  with  interest  at  seven 
per  cent.,  payable  semi-annually  "in  gold;"  that  a  few 
days  after  the  interest  fell  due  Jobe  Gaskins  tendered  to 
Banker  Vinting  $63  in  paper  money  as  said  six  months' 
interest,  and  refused  or  neglected  then  or  at  any  other 
time  to  tender  gold  in  payment  of  the  interest  as  the 
contract  provided,  and  upon  this  evidence  he  would  ask 
the  court  to  foreclose  the  mortgage  and  sell  the  premises 
to  satisfy  the  claims  of  his  client. 

189 


i  go 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIM1CRAT. 


He  then  called  Banker  Vint- 
ing  to  the  stand  and  had  him 
hold  up  his  hand  and  swear. 

Then  he  examined  him  as 
follers  : 

Question.  "Mr.  Vinting, 
what  is  your  bizness?" 

Answer.  "I  am  a  banker, 
sir,  a  banker." 

Q.  "Did  Jobe  Gaskins, 
the  defendant  here,  tender  you 
the  interest  due  on  this  mort- 
gage as  the  mortgage  pro- 
vides?" 

A.  "No,  sir,  he  did  not. 
He  offered  paper  money — 
nothing  but  paper  money — 
while  the  mortgage  and  notes 
call  for  gold." 

Q.      "Is  this    interest    still 

'"I  am  a  banker,  sir,  a  banker."     due  and  unpaid?" 

A.      "It  is,  sir.     It  is." 

"You  may  have  the  witness,"  says  Jim. 

Then  I  examined  the  banker.      He  looked  very  witherin 
like  at  me,  but  I  dident  wither. 

Q.      "  Mr.  Vinting,  what  kind  of  money  did  you  give  for 
this  mortgage  and  notes?" 

A.      "Paper  money,  paper  money." 

Q.      "Then   why  haint  paper  money  good    enough  for 
interest  on  them?" 

A.      "The   contract  says  'gold,'  Mrs.  Gaskins — it  calls 
for  gold." 

Q.      "Well,  haint  paper  money  as  good  as   gold — now, 
since  the  election?" 


JUDGMENT  RENDERED.  Igi 

"I  'bject,"  says  Jim,  and  then  he  got  up  and  argyed 
that  my  question  was  leadin,  &c.,  and  the  court  decided 
that  he  needent  answer  it. 

"We  rest,"  says  Jim. 

Then  I  got  up  and  stated  our  case.     Says  I  : 

"Mr.  Court,  we  will  prove  that  Jobe  Gaskins  sold  hay 
and  corn  to  Billot,  the  miller,  to  git  the  money,  or  a  part 
of  it,  to  pay  this  interest,  and  took  Billot's  note  ;  that 
when  the  time  come  to  pay  it  Billot  offered  to  pay  it  in 
paper  money ;  that  Jobe  refused  to  take  it,  jist  as  the 
banker  refused  ;  that  Jobe  sued  Billot  before  Squire  Reed 
for  the  amount  'in  gold;'  that  Mr.  Patrick,  who  is  now 
the  lawyer  a  tryin  to  foreclose  us  for  not  payin  gold,  was 
the  lawyer  agin  us  when  we  was  a  tryin  to  git  the  gold  to 
pay  with.  We  will  prove  that  the  law  made  Jobe  take 
paper  money  or  nothin,  and  made  him  pay  the  costs  for 
tryin  to  collect  gold.  We  will  prove  that  Jobe  took  some 
of  that  money  the  law  made  him  accept  for  wheat,  and 
more  jist  like  it,  to  the  banker,  and  offered  to  pay  his 
interest ;  that  the  banker  refused,  and  on  this  testimony  we 
ask  you  to  render  judgment  agin  Mr.  Vinting,  the  banker, 
for  costs,  and  make  him  take  this  $63  in  paper  money  that 
I  now  tender  in  open  court  as  payment  of  the  six  months' 
interest  due." 

At  that  I  handed  the  $63  to  the  clerk.  He  took  it  and 
gave  me  a  receipt  for  the  amount. 

Then  I  put  Jobe  on  the  stand  and  proved  that  he  had 
taken  the  same  money  the  law  made  him  take  for  his  wheat 
to  the  banker  and  offered  it  to  him  ;  that  the  banker 
refused  to  take  anything  but  gold ;  that  he  had  tried  to  git 
the  gold,  but  couldent  find  anybody  that  had  any  gold,  and 
that  he  had  done  all  he  could  to  raise  the  gold  and  couldent. 

I  then  proved  by  Squire  Reed  that  Jim  Patrick  was 
Billot's  lawyer,  and  had  argued  and  proved  by  Sam  Moore 


1 92  BETSY  GAS  KINS,   DIMICRAT, 

and  Lawyer  Buchanan  and  others  that  paper  money  was 
money  and  was  a  legal  tender  for  debts,  and  that  Jobe 
was  beat  in  his  lawsuit  agin  Billot  and  had  to  pay  the  costs 
and  take  paper  money. 

Then  I  "rested." 

Then  Jim  Patrick  got  up  and  made  a  short  speech,  statin 
that  "gold  was  God's  money;"  that  He  had  hidden  it 
away  in  the  vaults  of  nature  for  the  use  of  mankind  as 
money.  He  showed  how  Banker  Vinting  was  a  Christian 
and  one  of  our  leadin  citizens,  and  all  he  asked  the  court 
to  do  was  to  inforce  his  contract  agin  Jobe  Gaskins.  He 
showed  how  all  the  bankers  and  bondholders  and  other 
money-lenders  was  in  favor  of  gold  and  gold  contracts : 
then  he  showed  that  it  was  dishonest  for  Gaskins  to 
attempt  to  pay  that  interest  in  any  other  kind  of  money 
than  gold  as  stipulated  in  the  contract. 

"  It  is  in  fact  repudiation, "  says  he,  and  he  made  sich  a  fine 
argament  for  gold  and  agin  other  money  that  I  put  on  my 
specks  to  make  sure  it  was  Jim  Patrick,  the  same  Jim  what 
argyed  so  loud  and  long  for  paper  money  and  agin  gold  the 
other  day,  in  our  case  agin  Billot  for  wheat  money. 

His  argament  was  so  fine  and  patriotic  that  I  felt  half 
ashamed  for  askin  the  court  to  make  Banker  Vinting  take 
the  same  kind  of  money  for  interest  as  the  law  made  Jobe 
take  for  wheat. 

Well,  arter  Jim  got  done  I  riz  up  and  stated  that  we  was 
aware  that  the  interest  was  due  and  unpaid ;  that  I  knowed 
the  contract  called  for  gold.  I  told  the  court  how  I  kicked 
agin  signin  the  mortgage  last  Aprile,  when  it  was  made,  jist 
for  the  reason  that  it  called  for  gold.  I  showed  how  it 
was  the  banker's  doins,  and  not  ourn,  that  it  called  for  gold. 
I  told  the  court  how  Jobe  and  the  others  laughed  at  me  and 
called  me  an  anacrist  and  all  sich  names  for  refusin  to  sign 
a  gold  mortgage.  Then  I  told  him  about  havin  to  raise  the 


JUDGMENT  RENDERED. 


money  then  to  pay  Con- 
gressman Richer  to  keep 
from  bein  foreclosed  at 
that  time,  and  about  my 
succumbin  to  their  ridi- 
cule and  signin  at  last, 
hopin  agin  hope  that  in 
some  strange  way  we 
might  raise  the  gold  and 
save  our  home. 

I  told  the  judge  that 
I  dident  believe  "gold 
was  God's  money ;"  that 
I  dident  think  God  would 
make  a  metal  to  be  used 
to  turn  people  out  of 
home  with  ;  that  if  it  was 
made  for  any  sich  pur- 
pose it  must  a  been  the  "other  feller's"  doins. 

I  showed  how  government  officers,  through  the  influence 
of  the  rich  people,  had  called  in  the  paper  money  and 
burned  it  up  ;  how  they  had  issued  bonds  agin  Jobe  and  his 
likes  to  git  it  to  burn.  I  showed  how  the  same  men  had 
demonitized  silver  and  brought  us  to  a  "gold  basis,"  all  of 
which  had  reduced  prices,  made  money  scarce  and  hard  to 
git,  and  kept  up  interest.  I  showed  him  how  sich  laws  had 
throwed  people  out  of  homes  and  turned  all  their  earnins 
over  to  the  money-lenders  and  sich. 

I  showed  him  how  we  had  paid  $3,800  toward  our  farm, 
and  how,  if  he  dident  make  the  banker  take  Jobe's  wheat 
money,  we  would  be  sold  out,  and,  at  the  low  price 
land  is  sellin  for,  we  would  have  nothin  left  in  our  old 
age. 

I  begged   him  with   tears  in  my  eyes  to  make  the  banker 


;  He    made   such    a   fine    argament   for 
gold  and  agin  other  money." 


I94  BETSY  CASK  INS,   D I  MIC  RAT. 

take  Jobe's  wheat  money  and  give  us  one  more  chance  to 
save  our  old  home. 

Then  I  sot  down,  and  my  eyes  would  water,  no  matter 
how  often  I  would  wipe  them. 

Well,  the  court  cleared  his  throat  a  time  or  two  and  then 
said  : 

"It  is  a  common  occurrence  for  us  judges  in  our  official 
positions  to  do  unpleasant  things.  I  am  sorry  for  the  old 
people,  but  the  law  must  uphold  the  sacred  rights  of  con- 
tract. The  contract  calls  for  gold.  I  will  therefore  render 
judgment  agin  Gaskins,  the  defendant,  for  full  amount 
of  mortgage,  accrued  interest  and  costs  of  this  case,  and 
order  the  sheriff  to  sell  the  premises  to  satisfy  the  judg- 
ment." 

When  them  words  was  spoke  I  jist  felt  smothered.  I 
felt  so  queer  I  hardly  knowed  where  I  was. 

Jobe  he  jist  sot  there  a  starin,  with  a  pleadin  look  on  his 
face.  We  both  sot  there  numb  like  till  the  officer  come 
around  and  told  us  the  case  was  over. 

We  kind  a  come  to  then  and  got  up.  Then  I  thought  of 
the  clerk  havin  that  paper  money,  so  I  told  Jobe  to  go  and 
git  it. 

He  went,  and  the  clerk  told  him  he  couldent  surrender 
the  money  till  the  case  was  settled ;  that  that  money  was 
part  of  the  court  record,  and  the  land  might  not  sell  for 
enough  to  pay  the  judgment  and  all  costs. 

So  we  come  home  and  left  our  wheat  money  and  hay 
money  and  cow  money  and  the  money  for  poor  old  Tom 
and  all  with  the  officers  of  the  court. 

Jobe,  poor  man,  from  the  time  he  left  that  court-house 
till  now  he  has  jist  moped  around,  sighin  and  moanin. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE    LITTLE    WHITE    ROSE-BUSH. 

WHEN  Ike  Miller  brought  Jobe's  paper,  the  Adver- 
cate,  to  us  day  before  yisterday,  the  fust  thing  my 
eyes  fell  on  was  : 

"SHERIFF'S  SALE.— Isaac  Vinting,  plaintiff,  vs.  Jobe 
Gaskins,  defendant." 

I  tried  to  look  away  from  it,  but,  all  I  could  do,  I  couldent 
git  my  ej'es  off  from  them  lines.  I  turned  the  paper  over, 
but  it  jist  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  see  them  words  all 
over  that  paper. 

I  never  had  anything  make  me  feel  so  queer  in  all  my 
life.  My  head  seemed  to  be  goin  round  and  round,  and  I 
couldent  see  anything  but  "Sheriff  Sale" — "Vinting — 
Gaskins — Gaskins — Vinting — Sheriff  Sale. " 

"Sheriff  Sale."  I  had  seen  them  same  two  words  hun- 
dreds of  times  before,  but  they  never  looked  like  they  did 
that  day. 

I  was  all  alone  at  home,  and  I  thought  I  would  never 
live  to  see  another  livin  bein — I  felt  so  queer. 

Well,  I  laid  that  paper  down  and  went  out  in  the  yard. 
Arter  a  while  I  begin  to  feel  better,  though  nothin  seemed 
to  look  like  it  use  to — nor  dont  to  this  day. 

When  I  got  out  in  the  yard  I  could  see  the  trees,  and 
bushes,  and  fences,  and  the  house,  and  the  big  road,  and 
the  little  stream  down  over  the  bank ;  but  they  looked  so 
queer.  Though  I  had  lived  by  and  among  them  for  years, 
they  dident  look  like  they  did  when  I  use  to  think  they 
would  be  around  me  and  near  me  when  I  should  die.  No, 

»95 


ig6 


HETSY  GASKL\S,  Dl MIL-RAT. 


Little  Jane. 


they  now  looked  like  some- 
body  else's  trees  and 
bushes  and  fence  and  road 
and  sich. 

I  felt  as  though  I  was 
not  at  my  own  home,  but 
intrudin  on  other  people's 
property,  "  trespassin,"  as 
them  court-house  lawyers 
calls  it.  That  "sheriff 
sale"  in  that  paper  had 
changed  the  looks  of  things. 
I  went  over  to  the  little 
white  rose-bush — the  bush 
my  little  Jane  planted  the 
day  she  was  four  years  old — the  one  she  had  watched  and 
called  hers  till  she  was  taken  from  me  two  years  arter. 

I  thought,  as  I  stood  there  by  that  little  bush,  planted 
by  her  little  hands,  that  I  could  nearly  see  her  little  form  a 
squattin  down  and  her  little  dimpled  fingers  pattin  the  dirt 
around  the  roots  of  that  little  bush.  I  remembered  how 
she  plucked  the  first  rose  and  come  a  runnin  to  me  with  it, 
sayin  : 

"Mamma,  mamma,  my  bush  raised  this.  How  pritty!" 
I  thought  how,  every  spring,  Jobe  would  pull  the  weeds 
and  leaves  from  around  it,  and  how  a  many  a  time  I  saw 
him  wipin  his  eyes  as  he  stood  by  our  baby's  rose-bush. 
And  as  I  was  thinkin  this  I  thought  that  before  long  some- 
body else  would  own  this  ground  and  that  bush,  and  we 
could  not  take  care  of  it  any  more  for  our  little  girl  that 
is  gone.  I  wondered  if  anybody  would  stand  there  arter 
we  are  turned  out  and  weep  for  the  child  that  planted 
it.  I  wondered  why  it  was  that  the  law  could  tear  people 
away  from  everything  they  love.  I  wondered  why  there 


"I   COULD  NEARLY   SEE    HER   LITTLE   DIMPLED   FINGERS   PATTIN   THE 
AIRTH   AROUND   THE   ROOTS   OF   THAT   LITTLE   BUSH." 


BETSY  GASK1NS,  D1M1CRAT. 


•';.      I 
"'Mamma,   .   .   .  how  pritty  ! '  ' 

couldent  be  some  way  fixed  to  make  it  easier  for  people  to 
git  homes  and  pay  for  them.  1  wondered  why  interest  was 
never  less  than  six  per  cent.,  and  sometimes  more.  I 
•wondered  why  people  who  paid  interest  had  sich  a  hard 
way  of  gittin  along,  while  the  people  who  got  interest  got 
along  so  easy. 

And  as  I  stood  there  by  our  baby's  rose-bush  I  thought 
of  all  the  interest  Jobe  has  paid  on  this  place,  of  the  taxes 
he  has  paid  year  in  and  year  out,  and  I  got  to  figurin,  and 
I  found  he  had  paid  for  the  farm  nearly  twice  over. 

And  then  I  thought  of  that  dream  I  had  nearly  a  year 
ago,  when  I  dreamt  that  Jobe  could  borrow  money  of  the 
county  treasury  at  only  two  per  cent.  And  I  kept  on  a 
figurin,  and  I  found  that  if  interest  had  only  been  two  per 


THE  LITTLE    WHITE   ROSE-BUSH.  19y 

cent,  since  we  bought  this  farm,  the  difference  between  the 
interest  we  have  paid  and  what  we  would  have  had  to  pay 
at  two  per  cent,  would  have  let  us  out.  We  would  have 
had  our  farm  nearly  paid  for,  and  we  could  have  stayed 
here  and  taken  care  of  baby's  little  rose-bush  and  carried 
the  roses  to  her  little  grave  each  year  as  long  as  we  lived. 
But  interest  haint  two  per  cent.,  and  we  must  leave  the 
little  bush,  leave  the  trees,  leave  the  flowers,  leave  all  and 
go.  Oh!  that  nearly  chokes  me.  Where  shall  we  go? 
Who  will  take  care  of  baby's  grave?  I  cant  rite  any  more. 
I  feel  so  queer. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

JOBE  TALKS  Ol-  THINGS  THAT  ARE  GONE. 

JOBE    is   down   sick   with     "brain    fever  and  nervous 
prostration." 
The  doctor  says  it  all  come  from  his  worryin  over 
bein  foreclosed. 

Jobe  jist  lays  and   moans  and   talks  to  hisself.     He  is 
out  of  his  head  most  of  the  time. 


"Jobe  jist  lays  and  moans." 

Last  nite  he  thought  he  had  Betty,  our  drivin  mare, 
back  (the  one  we  parted  with  last  spring  to  git  money  to 
pay  interest  to  Congressman  Richer).  He  thought  our 


JOKE   TALK'S  OF  THL\'(,S   THAT  ARE  GONE. 


2O I 


little  Jane  was  livin 
agin,  and  he  was 
holdin  her  on  Betty's 
back,  a  lettin  her 
ride. 

He  jist  kept  a 
talkin  fust  one  thing, 
then  another,  all 
nite. 

I  dident  git  to 
sleep  any,  and  since 
he  has  been  sick  I 
have  to  chop  all  the 
wood  and  do  the 
chores  and  wait  on 
him  till  I  am  nearly 
wore  out  and  not 
able  to  write. 

I  dont  know  what 
I  will  do  if  they  fore- 
close us  and  put  us 
out  before  Jobe  gits 
able  to  go  about. 

It  jist  seems  one  trouble  brings  on  another.  If  the  law 
would  make  the  banker  (contract  or  no  contract)  take  the 
same  kind  of  money  for  interest  as  it  makes  Jobe  take  for 
wheat,  Jobe  wouldent  be  down  with  brain  fever  and  sick 
from  worryin. 

I  wonder  why  laws  haint  made  as  much  in  favor  of  hard- 
workin  poor  people  as  rich  people  who  sets  in  offices  and 
dont  do  any  hard  work. 

I  see  Congress  and  Mr.  Cleveland  are  a  goin  to  issue  more 
bonds  on  the  people,  and  sell  them  at  the  post-offices  to 
the  popular  people.  Jobe  and  me  rant  invest. 


I  have  to  chop  all   the  wood." 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

BILL    BOWERS    IS    ON    THE    FENCE. 

JOBE  is  able  to  be  up.      We  have  been  foreclosed,  and 
ex-Congressman  Richer  has  the  farm  back. 
We  have  a  notice  in  writin  to  vacate  these  premises 
on  or  before  the  first  day  of  March. 

Jobe  bein  sick,  neither  of  us  was  to  town  the  day  our  old 
home  was  sold  by  the  sheriff. 

I  felt  bad  all  that  day — felt  jist  like  somethin  awful  was 
about  to  happen.  Jobe  seemed  weaker  and  more  restless 
than  usual. 

Bill  Bowers  rode  by  our  place  in  the  evenin,  stopped  at 
the  gate  and  hollered. 

I  went  to  the  door,  hopin  agin  hope  that  maybe  for 
some  unknown  reason  the  foreclosin  hadent  been  done. 
But  as  soon  as  I  laid  eyes  on  Bill  I  knode  our  home  was 
gone. 

He  hemmed  and  hawed  and  stammered,  tryin  to  say 
somethin  that  was  hard  for  him  to  say.  Says  I  : 

"  Out  with  it,  Bill ;  we  are  prepared  for  the  wust." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "its  gone.  Congressman 
Richer  bought  it  in,  at  jist  what  the  mortgage  and  interest 
amounted  to,  and  you  people  will  have  to  pay  the  costs. 
Mr.  Richer  seemed  pleased  to  get  the  old  farm  back 
agin." 

"Yes,  Bill,"  says  I.  "I  allow  he  was  glad  to  git  it 
back.  He  ort  to  be.  He  has  some  $3,800  of  interest  and 
principal  we  have  paid  him  on  the  farm,  before  he  forced 


HILL  BOWERS  IS  ON  THE  FENCE. 


203 


us  to  borrow  the 
money  from  Banker 
Vinting  to  pay  him 
last  spring.  You 
see,  Bill,  we  paid 
him  $3,800  interest 
and  principal  up  to 
last  Aprile ;  then 
last  Aprile  we  paid 
him  Si, 800  that  we 
borrowed  from  the 
banker,  and  some 
$300  of  Jobe's  leg- 
icy  money  from  his 
dead  aunt,  makin 
in  all  some  $5,900. 
Now  he  takes  $i,- 
863  of  that  money 
and  buys  it  back, 
givin  him  the  same 
farm  we  got  from 
him  and  $4,000 
nearly  of  money  besides  that  Jobe  has  aimed  by  hard 
knocks." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  Bill,  "it  does  look  kind  a  tough." 

"Yes,"  says  I,  "and  it  dont  look  any  tougher  than 
it  is." 

"I  spose  not,"  says  Bill. 

"No,  Bill,"  says  I;  "if  the  lawmakers  only  knew  how 
hard  it  is  to  be  sold  out  and  turned  out  of  your  home,  they 
would  surely  make  laws  to  make  money  plentier  and  easier 
to  git ;  they  would  surely  reduce  interest." 

"They  ort  to,"  says  Bill. 

"Yes,  Bill,"  says  I,  "  we  have  done  all  we  could  to  hold 


'Om  with  it,  Bill;  we  are  prepared  for 
the  wust.'  " 


204  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIM  1C  RAT. 

the  farm,  and  hoped  to  have  a  home  to  stay  in  in  our 
old  age. 

"We  have  give  all  we  raised  to  Congressman  Richer  in 
payments  and  interest  and  taxes  and  sich. 

"We  have  done  without  many  a  thing  we  ort  to  a 
had  tryin  to  keep  our  payments  up,  hopin  that  our  old  age 
might  be  spent  here  among  our  neighbors  ;  but  every  year 
since  we  bought  the  farm  times  have  got  harder,  prices 
lower  and  money  scarcer. 

"We  have  raised  good  crops,  Jobe  has  worked  hard, 
and  now,  arter  all  the  years  of  hard  work  and  good  crops, 
we  have  $512  less  than  we  had  when  we  bought  the  farm 
seventeen  years  ago. 

"They  kept  a  tellin  Jobe  that  it  was  'better  to  have  less 
money  and  lower  prices  than  to  have  more  money  and 
higher  prices,'  and  Jobe  and  his  likes  have  kept  a  votin 
for  the  fellers  that  told  him  sich  until  to-day  he  is  sick  and 
sold  out. 

"  He  has  done  the  votin  and  the  other  fellers  has  got  the 
money.  They  held  the  bag,  and  Jobe  and  his  likes 
poured  in  the  grain." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  Bill,  studyin  like,  "  Ive  about 
made  up  my  mind  that  none  of  us  farmers  have  much  to 
show  for  our  past  votin.  It  looks  as  though,  while  we 
have  been  workin  hard  nite  and  day,  economizin  and 
savin  ;  while  we  have  been  a  tryin  to  lay  up  somethin  for 
ourselves  in  old  age,  and  for  our  children  ;  while  we  have 
been  doin  ail  this,  and  doin  the  votin,  there  has  been  a  lot 
of  schemers  and  rascals  seekin  office  and  gittin  laws  made 
to  redeem  one  kind  of  money  in  another,  and  then  cornerin 
the  redeemin  kind,  and  contractin  and  destroyin  this  kind 
and  that,  even  issuin  bonds  on  us  to  git  it  to  burn,  and 
doin  everything  so  they  would  be  able  to  take  from  us 
what  we  were  a  raisin  and  savin." 


KILL  BOWERS  IS  ON  THE  FENCE. 


205 


III 


'  '{<* 


"'He  tell  you,  Betsy.     Tve  made  up  my  miiul   to  try  them  Populists 
hereafter.'  " 

Then,  leanin  over  on  his  horse,  says  he  : 
"  Betsy,  step  up  closer  to  the  fence." 


206  BETSY  GASK2NSt  DIMICRAT. 

I  walked  out  to  the  fence. 

Says  he,  whisperin  like  : 

"He  tell  you,  Betsy.  Ive  made  up  my  mind  to  try  them 
Populists  hereafter.  I  see  they  have  some  purty  smart 
men  in  the  United  States  Senate.  But  for  the  life  of  you, 
Betsy,  dont  say  anything  to  any  one  about  my  changin." 

I  jist  stepped  back  a  step  or  two  and  looked  at  Bill 
Bowers  for  a  whole  minit.  He  looked  at  me.  Then 
says  I : 

"Bill  Bowers,  I  am  surprised!  I  am  surprised  that  you, 
a  full-blooded  American  citizen,  a  grown-up  man,  a  man 
who  has  made  up  his  mind  to  do  what  he  believes  to  be  right, 
and  then  hasent  the  manhood  to  let  the  world  know  that 
you  are  independent,  but  are  afraid  that  some  officeseeker 
or  polertician  who  lives  off  of  you  will  turn  up  his  nose  at 
you!  Bill  Bowers,  I  thought  you  had  more  firmness  in 
you  than  that.  If  the  party  you  have  been  votin  for  has 
betrayed  you,  if  the  officeseekers  you  have  helped  to  elect 
have  used  you  as  a  tool,  haint  it  your  dooty  as  a  man  and 
a  citizen  to  let  it  be  known  that  you  are  a  goin  to  quit  the 
gang?  Instid  of  bein  afraid  of  them,  you  should  make 
them  afraid  of  you.  Thats  your  dooty,  Bill." 

"Well,  Betsy,"  says  he,  "I  dont  know  but  what  youre 
right,  but  Ide  ruther  you  wouldent  say  anything  about  it." 

Then,  changin  the  subject,  says  he  : 

"Betsy,  where  do  you  think  of  goin  to?" 

"Where  do  I  think  of  goin  to?"  says  I.  "The  Lord 
only  knows.  I  dont." 

At  that  Jobe  hollered  for  me,  and,  biddin  Bill  "good 
day,"  I  come  in. 

Yourn,  nearin  the  close. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 1. 

BETSY     FAINTS.        A    VISION. 

r  I  "HE    other    day    ex-Congressman     Richer's     lawyer 

•       brought  a  man  out  to  look  at  the  farm.     They  driv 
into  the  gate,    out    through   the    bars   back   of  the 
barn,  across  fust  one  field  then  another,  the  lawyer  a  pintin 
and  layin  it  off,  the  feller  a  lookin  and  noddin  his  head. 

Arter  a  while  tljey  come  back  and  come  up  into  the 
yard,  the  lawyer  still  a  pintin,  the  feller  still  a  lookin  and 
noddin.  I  heerd  the  lawyer  say  : 

"We  want  you  to  clear  this  all  up.  Clear  away  these 
bushes,  and  sow  the  yard  down  in  lawn  grass." 

As  soon  as  I  heerd  that  word  "bushes,"  I  thought  all  of 
a  suddint  of  poor  "little  Jane's  white  rose-bush/' 

I  felt  faint  like — smothered — and  a  tear  came  a  rollin 
down  my  cheek  and  dropped  on  the  floor  before  I  could 
git  my  apron  to  my  eyes,  and  they  kept  a  comin,  no  matter 
how  hard  I  wiped. 

When  I  use  to  read  and  hear  of  "sheriff  sales  "  I  dident 
take  time  to  think  what  an  awful  thing  it  is  to  have  the 
only  place  one  knows  on  airth  as  "  home"  sold  away  from 
you.  But  now,  when  I  know  of  what  it  is,  I  think  of  all 
the  tears  and  sobs  and  heartaches  and  sich  that  has  been 
a  goin  on  around  us,  and  we  dident  know  anything  about  it. 

Sometimes  I  find  myself  stoppin  and  standin  still  and 
lookin  up  in  the  sky  and  sayin  : 

"  O  Lord,  is  there  no  other  way  to  do?  Is  there  no  way  to 
save  the  women  and  children  and  hard-workin  men  from 
bein  turned  out  of  their  homes,  where  they  have  lived 
and  loved  and  been  born?" 

207 


208  BETSY  GASK1NS,  D1MICRAT. 

And  every  time  I  think  I  can  hear  a  whisperin  voice,  jist 
a  little  piece  away  from  me,  a  sayin  : 

"  Yes,  by  reducin  interest." 

And  then  in  a  minit  or  so  it  seems  as  though  I  hear  a 
ringin  in  my  ears,  in  words  jist  a  little  further  away  than 
the  other,  a  sayin  : 

"It — will — be — done.      It — will — be — done." 

If  I  only  knew  where  we  are  to  go  to,  and  what  Jobe  can 
git  to  do,  I  might  bear  it  easiei.  It  seems  as  though  an 
old  man  haint  wanted  to  do  work,  and  it  seems  every 
place  is  taken  up. 

Jobe  has  been  out,  ever  since  he  has  been  able  to  go 
about,  lookin  for  work  and  some  place  to  move  to. 

Everybody  seems  to  a  heard  of  our  bein  foreclosed, 
and  they  dont  seem  to  trust  Jobe  like  they  use  to,  though 
God  knows  he  is  as  honest  as  he  ever  was. 

Well,  arter  the  lawyer  had  gone  all  around  the  place, 
givin  his  orders  to  the  feller,  he  come  up  to  the  door 
and  knocked.  I  opened  the  door  and  says  : 

"  Come  in." 

"No,"  says  he,  "  I  jist  wanted  to  know  if  you  intended 
to  git  out  by  March  the  fust." 

Says  I  :      "We  will  if  we  can  find  a  place." 

"Well,  you  must  git  out  whether  you  find  a  place  or 
not,"  says  he,  "as  we  want  this  gentleman  to  move  in  and 
commence  spring  work." 

"We  will,  Mistur  Lawyer,  if  we  can  possibly  find  a 
place,"  says  I. 

"Well,  look  here,  Mrs.  Gaskins,"  says  he,  short  like, 
"we  dont  want  any  'its'  about  it.  I  notify  you  now,  in 
the  presence  of  this  gentleman,  that  if  you  are  not  out  by 
March  the  fust,  I  will  see  that  the  law  puts  you  out.  No\\. 
take  warnin." 

And  at  that  he  turned  on  his  heel  and  walked  off. 


"'()    l.okli.    IS   THERK    NO    OTHKR    WAY    TO    DO?'" 


209 


210  BETSY  G A  SKINS,  D1MICRA  T. 

I  am  an  old  woman,  and  have  had  many  hardships,  but, 
Mistur  Editure,  in  all  my  life  I  never  had  anything  to 
strike  my  heart  like  them  words  did.  It  jist  seemed  like 
everything  turned  black  before  me,  and  I  sunk  down  in 
the  doorway  and  must  a  fell  to  sleep,  for  arter  a  while  I 
woke  up,  or  come  to,  as  it  were. 

I  had  a  dream  while  I  lay  there  that  I  will  never  forgit. 

I  thought  that  a  great,  large  man  stood  before  me,  and 
jist  behind  him  stood  two  other  good-sized  fellers.  The 
big  man  said  to  me,  in  a  cruel,  coarse  voice:  "  Ive  come 
to  turn  you  out."  I  thought  I  bursted  out  a  cryin,  and 
turned  my  eyes  up  toward  the  sky,  as  I  had  done  before, 
and  right  there,  a  flyin  through  the  air,  come  my  dear 
little  Jane,  lookin  jist  as  she  did  years  ago  before  she  died. 
I  thought  she  throwed  her  little  arms  around  my  neck, 
and  laid  her  little  soft  face  agin  my  cheek,  and  says  : 
"Dont  cry,  mamma.  If  no  one  else  cares  for  you,  I  do," 
jist  as  plain  as  I  ever  heerd  her  little  voice  in  life. 

I  clasped  my  arms  around  her,  and  begin  to  feel  a  thrill 
of  happiness  as  I  once  did,  when  the  big  sheriff  stepped 
up  and  grabbed  her  by  the  neckband  of  her  little  dress, 
and,  with  a  mighty  jerk,  threw  her  behind  him,  sayin  : 
"Stop  this  sentimentalism.  The  law  must  have  its  way." 

I  paid  no  attention  to  his  cruel  words,  but  jumped 
toward  my  little  Jane,  who  laid  there  with  the  blood  a 
runnin  out  of  her  little  head  jist  above  the  left  eye.  Her 
eyes  were  open  and  starin,  and,  -with  a  scream  of  agony, 
I  cried:  "Oh,  my  child!  My  child  is  dead!" 

I  was  so  shocked  that  it  woke  me  up,  and  I  found  myself 
a  layin  there  in  the  door,  and,  bein  cold,  I  got  up  and 
went  in,  all  a  sliakin. 

From  that  day  to  this  I  can  hardly  think  of  anything 
but  my  little  girl  a  comin  through  the  air  and  throwiu  her 
baby  arms  around  my  neck. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE    PARTING. 

JOBE  is  gone.  Last  Monday  morning  bright  and 
airly  he  started  for  Lorain  to  find  work.  He  had 
hunted  and  hunted  far  and  near,  high  and  low,  around 
here  for  work,  but  couldent  find  any.  Some  one  told  him 
there  was  lots  of  work  at  Lorain,  and  poor  Jobe  decided 
he  would  go  there. 

He  only  had  $2.95.  He  said  he  would  take  the  railroad 
to  Medina  and  walk  the  rest  of  the  way. 

lie  never  forgit  the  mornin  he  left. 

We  sot  up  late  the  nite  before,  talkin.  We  talked  over 
our  whole  lives — about  when  we  were  fust  married  ;  about 
how  different  times  were  then  and  now ;  about  the  happi- 
ness we  had  then,  and  the  plans  we  laid.  Jobe  was  strong 
and  healthy,  and  so  was  I.  Money  was  plenty,  and 
people  were  always  lookin  for  somebody  to  work  for  them. 

We  talked  of  little  Jane  ;  of  how  we  loved  her,  and  how 
she  used  to  love  us.  We  talked  of  when  she  died,  and  how 
it  nearly  killed  us ;  and  then  we  both  jist  cried  as  though 
our  hearts  would  break.  We  talked  of  how  hard  we  had 
worked  to  try  to  git  along  in  the  world,  and  how  our  plans 
had  failed. 

Arter  we  had  talked  a  good  long  while,  and  cried,  and 
felt  like  cryin,  Jobe  he  moved  his  chair  over  near  to  mine, 
and  took  my  hand  in  his,  and  says  : 

"Betsy,  weve  had  our  little  differences.  I  know  some- 
times I  have  been  tryin.  Ive  had  so  much  to  trouble  me  that 
at  times  I  was  peevish.  But,  Betsy,  I  want  you  to  look  over 

211 


212 


BE'ISY  GASKLVS,  D1MICRAT. 


all  my  failins.  You 
have  been  a  good 
woman.  You  have 
done  your  dooty,  and 
more  thanyourdooty. 
It  nearly  breaks  my 
heart  to  go  so  far 
away  and  leave  you 
behind  ;  but  we  have 
to  give  up  the  old 
farm,  Betsy,  we  have 
to  give  up  the  old 
farm,  and  I  must  find 
some  place  to  go  to, 
and  something  to  do. 
We  must  live,  Betsy, 
~—we  —  m  ust  —  live,  — 
and  I  must  find  some- 
thing to  do,  to  live. 
I  hope  to  be  able  to 
find  work,  and  have 
you  to  come  to  where 
I  am  before  long. 

"  I  surely  can  find 
something  to  do  some 

place.  I  heerd  Jonas  Warner,  that  rich  man  in  town,  tell  a 
feller  the  other  day  that  anybody  could  find  work  that  wanted 
to  work.  God  knows,  Betsy,  I  want  to  work,  and  if  Mr. 
Warner  is  right,  I  surely  can  find  somebody  willin  to  give 
me  something  to  do." 

We  dident  sleep  much  that  nite.  Jobe  wanted  to  ketch 
the  five  o'clock  train  on  the  C.,  L.  &  W.  Railroad,  and 
was  afraid  of  oversleepin  hisself.  He  had  to  git  up  airly 
so  as  to  i;it  to  town  in  time  to  ketch  it. 


"  He  drawed  me  over  in  his  arms  and 
kissed  me." 


THE  PART  INC,. 


213 


That  mornin  I  had  his 
clothes  done  up  in  a  neat 
bundle.  I  had  washed  and 
ironed  all  his  clothes  the 
day  before,  so  he  would 
have  enough  to  do  him  till 
I  could  go  to  him. 

He  d  i  d  e  n  t  eat  much 
breakfast.  He  said  he 
"  dident  feel  hungry." 
When  he  got  ready  to  start 
he  come  up  to  the  winder 
where  I  was  a  standin,  and, 
seein  that  I  was  choked  up, 
my  eyes  full  of  tears,  he 
drawed  me  over  in  his  arms 
and  kissed  me;  then, 
turnin,  walked  out  of  the 
door  without  sayin  a  word. 
The  moon  was  a  shinin 
bright,  and  I  stood  a  lookin 
at  him  as  far  as  I  could  see 
him.  He  was  wipin  his 
eyes  and  blowin  his  nose  as 
he  went  towards  town. 

When  he  was  gone  from 
my  view  I  still  stood  a  lookin  for  some  time,  then  sot 
down  and  cried,  and  kept  a  cryin  every  little  bit  all 
mornin.  Everything  seemed  so  lonesome  like.  Wherever 
I  looked  it  seemed  I  could  see  poor  Jobe  a  standin  there 
lookin  sad  like. 

He  said  he  would  rite  as  soon  as  he  found  work.    I  am 
lookin  for  a  letter  every  day. 

Poor  Jobe!     Little  did  he  think,   or  me  either,  some 


'He  was  wipin  his  eyes  and  blowin 
his  nose  as  he  went  towards  town. ' ' 


2I4 


BETSY  GASKIXS,  DIM  1C  RAT. 


"Then  sot  down  and  cried,  and  kept  a  cryin  every  little 
bit  all  mornin." 

thirty-six  years  ago,  that  in  our  old  age  we  would  be  turned 
from  our  home  by  the  law  of  our  country.  Little  did  we 
think  that  when  we  got  old  Jobe  would  have  to  go 
hundreds  of  miles  from  home,  and  out  among  strangers, 
a  beggin  for  work  to  feed  us  by. 

Jist  to  think  of  all  the  interest  money  and  payments  we 
have  give  Congressman  Richer — some  $3,800  all  told.  If 
interest  had  been  less  we  would  have  had  our  home,  and 


THE  PARTING, 


215 


had  it  nearly  paid  for,  and  Jobe  would  not  be  gone  out 
into  the  world  to  hunt  work.  If  we  had  half  or  a  quarter 
of  that  interest  money  we  could  buy  us  a  little  home  to  stay 
in  the  few  remainin  years  of  our  lives. 

But,  then,  interest  must  be  kept  up,  and  the  law 
inforced,  so  as  to  enable  Mr.  Richer  and  his  likes  to  live  in 
style  and  assert  the  dignity  of  their  citizenship.  It  has  to 
be  done,  no  matter  if  the  hardworkin  poor  people  are 
turned  out  of  their  homes  and  those  that  love  each  other 
are  parted. 

If  Jesus  was  here  and  a  makin  laws,  I  wonder  if  he 
would  have  interest,  and  foreclosin,  and  turnin  out,  and 
all  that? 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  SALOONKEEPER. 

MY  heart  is  so  broke  that  I  hardly  know  how  to  rite. 
This  is  March  3d,  and  yisterday  arternoon  they  put 
me  out. 

I  had  about  give  up  their  comin,  and  was  tryin  to  feel 
better,  when  all  of  a  suddint  I  heerd  a  knock  at  the  door. 
I  opened  it,  and  there  stood  three  strange  men. 

Said  the  one  who  acted  as  leader:  "Is  this  where  the 
Gaskinses  live?" 

Says  I:  "One  of  them  is  stayin  here,  and  the  Lord 
only  knows  where  the  other  one  is." 

"I  am  a  deputy  sheriff,"  says  he,  "and  have  orders  to 
set  you  out." 

Says  I :     "  Where  is  Mr.  Richer?" 

"  In  Washington,"  says  he. 

"Where  is  his  agent — his  lawyer?"  says  I. 

"In  town,"  says  he. 

"Well,  dont  they  have  to  be  here  to  put  me  out?"  says  I. 

"No,"  says  he  ;   "the  law  puts  you  out  for  them." 

"Well,  Mistur,"  says  I,  "couldent  you  let  me  stay  a 
little  longer?  Jobe's  gone  to  hunt  work  and  a  place  to 
move  to.  If  you  will  let  me  stay,  as  soon  as  he  finds  it 
He  go  out  without  your  botherin." 

"I  cant  do  it,  Mrs.  Gaskins,"  says  he;  "the  law  must 
be  inforced.  The  law  is  no  respecter  of  persons." 

Says  I,  pleadin  like:  "You  see,  I  am  a  old  woman, 
and  not  stout.  Jobe  is  away,  and  I  am  here  alone.  If  the 
law  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  why  should  it  come  here 

216 


THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  SALOONKEEPER. 


217 


and  put  me  out  of  a  home  that  we  have  paid  over  $3,800 
toward,  jist  to  please  the  man  that  we  have  paid  the 
money  to?" 

He  shook  his  head. 

"Where  are  you  a  goin  to  put  me?"  says  I. 

"I  am  goin  to  put  you  out,"  says  he  ;  "out  in  the  big 
road  yonder,  off  these  premises." 

Says  I:  "  Mistur,  please  dont  be  so  cruel  as  that.  It 
would  kill  me  to  sleep  out  there  all  nite.  Please  let  me 
stay  a  little  longer — jist  a  little  longer." 

"No  use  a  talkin,"  says  he.  "  He  have  to  do  as  the  law 
says.  Its  not  me  a  puttin  you  out,  Mrs.  Gaskins — its  not 
me  that  is  cruel.  It  is  the  law,  the  law,  that  is  doin  it." 

"Come  on,  men,"  says  he,  speakin  to  the  other  fellers. 

So  they  come  right  into  the  house,  the  house  I  had  loved 
so  well,  walkin  over  the  floor  I  have  scrubbed  on  my  hands 
and  knees  thousands  of  times,  and  begin  to  tear  up  my 
things  and  carry  them  out  in  the  big  road. 

I  jist  felt  so  queer  I  could  hardly  breathe. 

They  tore  down  my  stove  and  tore  up  my  carpet,  and 
carried  out  fust  one  thing,  then  another,  and  sot  them  down 
beside  the  road,  till  all  I  had  was  out  there. 

When  they  got  it  all  out,  the  deputy  come  in  and  says  : 

"Why  dont  you  go  out  there  where  your  things  are? 
You  have  no  right  here.  You  must  git  out,  so  I  can  lock 
up  the  house." 

Says  I:  "Mistur,  is  Congressman  Richer  a  goin  to 
move  in  to- nite?" 

Says  he,  sneerin  like:  "Why,  Lord  no;  Mr.  Richer 
wouldent  live  in  sich  a  house  as  this — he  lives  in  Wash- 
ington ;  he  lives  in  a.  fine  house." 

"Well,  then,  Mistur,  let  me  stay  in  here  till  I  hear  from 
Jobe." 

"No,"  says  he,  "you  must  git  out." 


2l8 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


"They  pulled  me  away  from  the  winder." 

Says  I,  chokin  like  :      •'  Mistur,  I  cant  go." 

"Well,  youve  got  to  go,"  says  he.      "  Are  you  a  goin?" 

"I  cant,"  says  I. 

"Here,  men,"  says  he,  "take  her  out  of  here  and  out 
yonder,  where  she  belongs." 

So  one  of  them  big  men  took  hold  of  one  arm,  and  the 
other  hold  of  the  other  arm,  and  pulled  me  away  from  the 
winder  where  I  was  standin  (the  same  one  where  I  was 
standin  the  mornin  Jobe  left),  and  pulled  me  out  of  that 
dear  old  kitchen  door  and  across  the  yard  and  out  into  the 
big  road,  where  they  had  piled  my  things,  and  sot  me 
down  on  a  chair. 

The  sheriff  had  locked  the  house  and  follered  them  out. 


THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  SALOONKEEPER. 


219 


When  he  came  out  he  says,  as  though  he  wanted  to  be 
friendly  :  "Where  do  you  think  of  goin  to,  Mrs.  Gaskins?" 

I  looked  at  him  to  see  if  he  was  crazy  or  what,  but  I 
couldent  speak,  I  was  so  full. 

Says  he  :  "Do  you  want  the  boys  to  put  up  your  bed 
for  you?" 

I  nodded  my  head. 

They  set  my  bed  up  and  put  two  jints  of  pipe  on  my 
stove,  and  then  got  in  their  buggy  and  went  to  town.  It 
was  nearly  sundown  when  they  left  me. 

Soon  arter  they  had  gone  Tom  Osborne  come  a  ridin  by 
and  brought  me  a  letter. 

As  soon  as  he  said  "letter"  my  heart  leapt.  I  knew  it 
was  from  Jobe. 

Tom  said  he  was  sorry  to  see  me  out  here  in  the  road, 
and  the  man  really  shed  tears.  He  lives  some  eight  miles 
from  here,  and  wanted  me  to  go  home  with  him  for  the 
nite.  But  I  jist  couldent  go.  So  he  rode  on. 

Arter  he  was  gone  I  got  a  lamp  and  sot  down  by  the  fire 
I  had  built  in  the  stove,  with  some  quilts  around  me,  to 
read  poor  Jobe's  letter.  And  every  word  seemed  to  be 
another  knife  stuck  in  my  heart. 

Poor  Jobe  he  is  havin  it  hard  too.  I  jist  cried  like  my 
heart  would  break  as  I  read  what  he  writ.  I  send  it  to 
you  to  read.  I  want" you  to  return  it,  as  it  is  from  the  only 
person  in  the  world  that  cares  for  me.  Here  it  is — you 
can  read  it  for  yourself.  You  see  it  was  writ  at  different 
times  and  places. 

JOBE'S    FIRST    LETTER. 

ELYRIA,  O. ,  Feb.  22,  1896. 
To  Betsy  Gaskins. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  : — I  have  put  off  ritin  to  you  thinkin  1 
would  be  able  to  rite  you  somethin  to  make  you  happy, 
but  to  date  I  cant. 


220  BETSY  GASK1NS,  DIM1CRAT. 

I  got  into  Lorain  the  third  day  arter  leavin  you.  I 
found  a  big  iron  works  there  and  lots  of  men  at  work,  but 
on  the  sides  of  the  door  to  their  office  and  at  all  the  gates 
around  the  big  fence  they  have  signs  stuck  up,  readin  : 


NO  HELP  WANTED   HERE. 


I  went  into  their  office,  and  asked  them  if  they  couldent 
give  me  something  to  do. 

Thev  said  :      "No,  we  have  all  the  men  we  need." 

I  told  them  how  I  wanted  somethin  to  do  at  any  price  ; 
of  our  bain  foreclosed  and  havin  to  git  out  and  all.  They 
shook  their  head  and  said  they  "had  to  turn  away  hun- 
dreds of  men  every  da}',"  and  told  me  to  "  look  around,"  I 
"  might  find  work  somewhere  else." 

So  I  left  and  went  from  one  place  to  another,  and  every- 
where I  went  I  saw  them  signs  and  was  told  the  same 
thing. 

I  found  lots  of  men  huntin  work. 

On  nearly  every  street,  and  down  along  the  river  and 
over  by  the  lake,  were  men  a  cam  pin  and  a  sleepin  in 
railroad  cars  and  outdoors  ;  cookin  by  fires  built  along  the 
banks  and  on  the  shore;  "waitin,"  they  said,  "till  they 
could  git  a  job." 

I  got  my  supper  with  three  fellers  that  nite  that  done 
their  cookin  that  way.  They  seemed  to  be  nice  fellers. 
They  was  from  different  parts  of  the  country. 

That  nite  1  got  a  bed  for  fifteen  cents,  and  had  forty- 
three  cents  left. 

The  next  day  I  walked  and  walked  and  walked  to  find 
work,  but  couldent. 

At  nite  I  had  twenty-four  cents  left.  Not  wantin  to  git 
clear  out  of  money,  I  got  into  an  empty  box-car  and  slept 
the  best  I  could.  It  was  cold,  and  most  of  the  nite  I  had 


THE  PREACHER  AXD  THE  SALOONKEEPER.    22 1 


At  all  the  gates  around  the  big  fence  they 
had  signs  stuck  up." 


Berea  and  see  if  I  cant  find 
send  this  letter  till  I  git  there. 


t  o     walk 
from    one 
end  of  the 
car  to  the 
other, 
back  and 
forth,     to 
keep  my- 
self warm. 
So     this    mornin     I 
come     down    here    to 
Elyria,  and  have  been 
from  one    end   of  the 
town      to     the     other 
try  in     to    find    w-ork ; 
but   nobody  seems   to 
want  to  hire  me. 

1    find    men    stayin 
out  around  town  here 
too.      They    say    they 
have     been    all    over 
the  country,  and  cant 
find    work    anywhere. 
I    dont    know    what   I 
will  do.      He  go  over  to 
somethin   there.-    I   will   not 


CLEVELAND,  O.,  Feb.  26,  1896. 

BOX-CAR  1406,  VALLEY  RAILWAY. 

BETSY  : — I  am  here.  I  will  finish  my  letter.  God  only 
knows  what  it  is  to  be  out  of  work,  out  of  money  and  out  of 
home.  I  am  not  well.  Ive  had  to  sleep  outdoors,  in  cars 
and  barns  and  around  lumber  piles  so  much  that  I  have  a 


222 


BETSY  GASKLVS,  DIM  1C  RAT. 


bad  cold.  I  have 
not  had  anything 
to  eat  since  yis- 
terday  mornin. 
This  cold  weath- 
er has  nearly 
used  me  up.  I 
got  one  day's 
work  cuttin  ice, 
and  got  a  dollar 
for  it.  That  nite 
I  got  me  a  warm 
supper  and  slept 
in  a  bed. 

I  run  out  of 
money  at  Elyria, 
and  come  from 
there  to  Berea. 

The  first  beg- 
gin  I  done  was 
from  the  farmers 

on    the   way.     I 
"Tasked  him  for  something  to  eat."  t      one      warm 

meal  and  a  cold  lunch.  I  was  in  Berea  a  whole  day  and 
nite  without  anything  to  eat,  so  I  jist  had  to  go  to  beggin 
agin.  I  went  to  the  Methodist  preacher's  house  one  of 
them  real  cold  mornins.  I  knocked,  and  the  preacher  come 
to  the  door.  I  asked  him  for  somethin  to  eat.  He 
called  to  the  hired  girl  and  told  her  to  hand  me  a  lunch, 
and  went  in,  shut  the  door,  and  sot  down  by  the  fire.  I 
could  see  him  a  settin  there  a  readin  the  Cleveland  Leader, 
with  his  feet  restin  on  a  plush  foot-stool,  and  while  that  girl 
was  a  gittin  that  lunch  and  I  was  a  standin  out  there  in  the 


THE  PREACHER  AND   THE  SALOONKEEPER. 


223 


wind  a  lookin  at  that  good  big  fire  I  thought  1  would  freeze. 
My  teeth  shook. 

When  the  girl  brought  that  lunch  I  was  so  cold  that  1 
could  hardly  take  it.  It  was  two  pieces  of  cold  bread,  with 
some  cold  beef  shaved  off  and  laid  between. 

I  was  hungry  and  tried  to  eat  it ;  the  bites  seemed  to 
stick  in  my  throat,  it  was  so  dry  and  cold.  What  I  did 
swallow  seemed  like  chunks  of  ice  in  my  stomach,  and 
made  me  colder.  I  shook  from  head  to  foot.  I  couldent 
eat  it,  I  was  so  cold.  So  I  put  what  I  couldent  eat  in  my 
pocket,  thinkin  I  would  eat  it  when  I  got  warmer. 

I  thought  Ide  die  with  cold.  No  matter  how  fast  I 
walked,  I  dident  get  warm.  I  went  on  and  on  till  I  got 
down  where  the  bizness  houses  were.  I  could  smell 
coffee  and  warm  meat  a  fryin.  It  jist  seemed  as  though  I 
had  to  go  in  and  take  some,  but  I  knew  I  darent.  It 
seemed  to  make  me  colder.  Finally  I  saw  a  sign  sayin : 


FREE   HOT  SOUP. 


When  I  got  up  to  it  a  man  opened  the  door,  a  sweepin. 
I  stopped,  told  him  I  had  no  money  and  was  cold,  and 
asked  him  if  I  could  go  into  his  place  and  warm. 

"Certainly,"  says  he,  "go  right  in.  lie  be  in  in  a 
minit. " 

I  went  in — yes,  Betsy,  went  into  a  saloon,  the  fust  time 
in  my  life.  Dont  blame  me.  I  had  to — I  was  so  cold. 
The  stove  was  red-hot.  When  the  feller  come  in  and  saw 
how  I  was  shakin,  says  he  : 

"Old  man,  this  is  pretty  cold  weather  to  be  out.'1 

"Yes,"  says  I,  shiverin. 

He  brought  me  a  chair  and  told  me  to  set  down.  Then 
he  felt  my  hands  and  ears  and  says  : 


224  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

"Why,  you  are  nearly  froze." 

I  told  him  about  havin  to  stay  out  all  nite,  and  about  not 
havin  anything  warm  for  breakfast,  the  best  I  could,  I 
shook  so. 

He  went  and  got  a  big  woolen  cloth,  held  it  to  the  stove 
till  it  got  hot,  and  wrapped  my  ears  up.  Then  he  went 
and  got  a  little  glass  full  of  liquor,  and  told  me  to  drink  it 
and  it  would  warm  me  up.  I  told  him  I  hadent  any 
money,  and  had  never  drank  a  drop  of  liquor  in  my  life. 

"Well,"  says  he,  "I  know  you  have  no  money,  and,  if 
you  had,  a  old  man  like  you,  in  your  condition,  shouldent 
pay  for  it.  If  )'ou  dont  wish  to  drink  it  I  wont  insist,  but 
I  thought  it  would  warm  you  up." 

So  he  set  the  glass  down  on  the  counter  and  says  : 

"He  make  you  a  hot  cup  of  coffee,  and  then  I  think  you 
will  feel  better." 

When  the  saloonkeeper  set  the  glass  of  whiskey  down 
and  went  to  gittin  me  some  hot  breakfast,  I  seemed  to  git 
colder  inside  as  1  got  warmer  outside.  So,  Betsy,  I  jist 
made  up  my  mind  that  Ide  drink  that  glass  of  whiskey  if  it 
killed  me.  And  I  did.  Soon  after  I  drank  it  I  felt  a  warm 
feelin  inside ;  and  as  I  sot  there  it  jist  seemed  as  though  I 
could  feel  myself  a  thawin  out,  with  that  big  fire  outside 
and  that  glass  of  whiskey  inside.  I  sot  there  till  the  feller 
had  my  coffee  and  breakfast  ready.  It  was  the  best  coffee 
I  ever  tasted, — though,  Betsy,  I  always  loved  the  coffee 
you  made, — and  the  fried  eggs  and  the  ham  and  the  hot 
cakes  jist  seemed  to  melt  in  my  mouth. 

Well,  arter  I  had  my  breakfast  the  saloonkeeper  came 
around  and  sot  down  and  asked  me  all  about  myself,  and 
you  too. 

And  as  I  told  all  our  trouble,  about  our  foreclosin  and 
sellin  out,  and  my  huntin  work  and  not  findin  it,  big  tears 
would  every  now  and  then  leave  his  big  blue  eyes  and  roll 


(<1WELL,    OLD   MAN,    SICH   THINGS   HADENT   ORT   TO   BE.'" 


226  HKTSY  GASK1NS,  DIM  1C  RAT. 

down  his  cheeks,  and  he  kept  a  swallerin  every  little  bit. 
When  I  had  told  him  all,  says  he  : 

"Well,  old  man,  sich  things  hadent  ort  to  be." 

So,  when  I  got  ready  to  go,  he  shook  my  hand  and 
wished  me  good  luck  in  findin  work ;  and  when  he  took 
hold  of  my  hand  I  felt  somethin  hard  in  his,  and  when  he 
let  go  I  had  a  silver  dollar  in  mine.  I  handed  it  back  to 
him,  and  told  him  I  dident  know  as  I  could  ever  return  it 
to  him. 

"No  matter,  pap,"  says  he,  "keep  it.  If  you  are  never 
able  to  return  it,  all  right,  and  if  you  are  able  and  never  see 
me,  'do  unto  some  other  human  brother  as  I  have  done 
unto  you,'  and  the  debt  will  be  paid.  Times  are  hard,  and 
I  have  sich  high  taxes  to  pay  that  it  makes  money  scarce 
with  me,  or  I  would  give  you  more.  I  hate  to  see  you  go 
out  in  this  cold  ;  you  are  welcome  to  stay  if  you  wish." 

But,  Betsy.  I  was  so  anxious  to  find  work  and  git  a  place 
for  you  that  I  couldent  stay.  So  that  day  and  nite  I  made 
it  to  here.  This  is  a  big  town,  but  so  far  I  have  found  no 
work.  Your  lovin  husband, 

JOBE  GASKINS. 

When  I  got  done  readin  that  letter  I  was  cryin  out  loud. 
Poor  Jobe.  I  wonder  where  he  was  last  nite. 

Oh,  how  I  love  that  man  that  took  Jobe  in  and  warmed 
him  and  fed  him! 

I  love  him  though  he  is  a  saloonkeeper.  1  could  throw 
my  arms  around  his  neck  and  cry  on  his  shoulder  with  love 
for  him  and  for  his  kindness  toward  Jobe. 

Well,  this  mornin  the  world  seems  strange  to  me.  Last 
nite  arter  I  had  gone  to  bed  and  could  look  up  in  the  clear 
sky  at  the  bright  stars,  it  jist  seemed  to  me,  while  I  laid 
there  in  my  bed  beside  the  big  road,  that  every  star  was  a 
eye  lookin  down  on  me  with  pity.  And,  thinkin  that  they 


THE  PREACHER  AND  THE  SALOONKEEPER. 


227 


looked  that  way,  I  was  not  a  bit  afraid  and  went  to  sleep, 
and  slept  till  daylite. 

Hopin  God  will  forgive  them  for  makin  and  havin  laws 
to  put  sich  people  as  me  out  of  home,  I  am 

Your  troubled  and  homeless 

BETSY  GASKINS. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

"THEM    ROOMS."       THE    "DIRECTOR    OF    CHARITIES." 

THAT  mornin  arter  I  wrote  you  the  last  time — arter  I 
had  built  me  a  fire  in  my  stove  and  got  my  breakfast 
and  washed  up  my  dishes  and  made  my  bed — I  sot 
down  on  a  chair  out  there  by  the  big  road.  I  never  felt  so 
queer  in  all  my  life.  Not  a  sound  could  be  heard,  except 
over  on  the  hill  near  Jake  Stiffler's  I  could  heer  a  cow  a 
bawlin.  It  was  awful  lonesome.  No  one  to  speak  to, 
nothin  to  look  at,  except  my  things  piled  up  there  beside 
the  road. 

1  couldent  help  thinkin  of  poor  Jobe — his  beggin,  and 
bein  cold,  and  starvin,  and  sleepin  in  box-cars,  and  sich. 

Well,  arter  I  had  sot  there  a  while  a  thinkin,  I  felt  so 
bad  that  I  jist  thought  I  would  go  up  to  the  house  and 
take  a  look  at  them  rooms  and  the  place  we  had  so  long 
loved  as  our  home. 

I  felt  afraid  like  to  go,  but  I  thought  it  might  cheer  me 
up  to  look  into  them  rooms  that  I  had  cleaned  and  papered 
and  swept — the  rooms  where  Jobe  and  me  had  set  in  and 
slept ;  the  rooms  that  had  sheltered  us  in  sickness  and 
in  health. 

So  I  jist  throwed  a  shawl  over  my  head,  and  walked  up 
the  walk  that  I  had  walked  up  thousands  of  times. 

There  were  the  currant  bushes,  the  lilac,  the  dead  poppy 
stalks.  And  all  the  weeds  and  posies,  that  used  to  appear 
to  wear  a  smile  for  me,  now  seemed  to  turn  from  me  as  if 
to  say,  "We  haint  yours  any  more.  You  have  no  bizness 
here  now." 


THEM  ROOMS.     THE  DIRECTOR  OF  CHARITIES.       229 


And  as  I  looked  at 
them  and  felt  that 
feelin,  a  lump  would 
raise  up  in  my  throat, 
no  matter  how  much  I 
swallered  and  tried  to 
keep  it  back. 

Well,  I  walked  on 
until  I  got  up  to  the 
kitchen  winder. 
When  I  got  there  it 
jist  seemed  that  I 
couldent  look  in,  but, 
knowin  I  had  come 
there  to  see  them 
rooms,  half  afraid  like 
but  determined,  I 
slipped  over  and  put 
my  face  agin  the 
glass. 

Everything  was 
silent  and  still.  There 
was  my  kitchen,  all 
empty.  Not  a  thing 
to  be  seen  but  that 
dear  old  kitchen — 
empty — no  stove,  no 
table,  no  chairs,  no 
nothin.  There  was  the  winder  where  I  stood  cryin  the 
mornin  Jobe  left.  There  by  that  winder  I  had  set  a  combin 
my  little  Jane's  hair  years  ago,  while  she  drew  pictures  on 
them  same  winderpanes  with  her  little  fingers.  There  were 
the  nails  Jobe  had  drove  in  the  wall  when  we  fust  moved  in  ; 
there  was  the  same  floor  over  which  we  had  walked  for 


I  slipped  over  and  put  my  face  agin 
the  glass." 


230  BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

years.  Oh,  how  I  longed  to  be  a  walkin  over  it  agin!  I 
was  locked  out — I  couldent  git  in. 

So  I  went  from  one  winder  to  another,  lookin  in  at  them 
rooms.  There  was  the  same  grate  that  had  warmed  us  ; 
there  in  that  corner,  evenin  arter  evenin,  Jobe  had  set  and 
studied ;  there  in  the  other  corner  I  had  set  and  knit,  or 
set  and  read.  It  seemed  that  I  could  see  Jobe  there  now. 
Oh!  how  I  would  lo\e  to  see  him  there.  Poor  Jobe!  I 
wonder  if  he  thinks  of  the  evenins  weve  spent  beside  that 
fire  together.  There  was  our  bed-room — empty,  silent 
and  still — no  bed,  no  nothin.  There  in  that  room  I  had 
set,  nite  arter  nite,  with  little  Jane  when  she  was  sick ; 
there  she  had  throwed  her  little  arms  around  my  neck  and 
put  her  fevered  face  agin  mine  the  last  time.  From  that 
room  Ellen  Jane  Moore  had  carried  her  arter  she  was 
gone.  It  was  empty  now.  I  was  locked  out.  I  couldent 
go  in. 

Turnin  from  them  rooms,  I  walked  around  the  yard, 
lookin  at  the  fence,  the  well,  the  coal-house,  and  the  things 
that  had  been  mine.  Then,  comin  to  the  front  yard,  I 
come  to  the  little  white  rose-bush  ;  it  seemed  to  look  at  me 
pleadin  like.  I  started  to  go  on,  but  I  couldent.  That 
rose-bush  seemed  to  call  me  back.  So  I  jist  got  me  a 
sharp  stick  and  dug  it  up,  and  took  it  down  to  where  my 
things  were  and  wrapped  it  up  in  a  cloth. 

When  I  got  back  to  the  big  road,  and  was  settin  there 
wonderin  what  Ide  do,  how  long  Ide  have  to  live  there  in 
the  big  road,  where  Ide  go  to  and  sich,  Constable  Bill 
Adams  come  a  ridin  by. 

When  he  got  up  to  me,  says  he  : 

"Why,  Mrs.  Gaskins,  what  are  you  a  doin  with  all  this 
stuff  piled  in  the  road?" 

"Ime  livin  here,"  says  I. 

"Well,  voiile  have  to  git  this  stuff  out  of  the  road,"  says 


THEM  ROOMS.  THE  DIRECTOR  OF  CHARITIES. 


231 


he.  "You  darent  obstruct  the  public  highway.  Its 
dangerous  to  have  a  pile  of  stuff  like  this  in  the  big  road  ; 
its  liable  to  scare  horses,  and  somebody  might  git  hurt  or 
killed.  Its  aginst  the  law,  Mrs.  Gaskins,  its  aginst  the 
law,  and  you  will  have  to  move  it." 

"The  law  put  it  here,"  says  I. 

"No  matter,"  says  he  ;  "youle  have  to  git  out  of  here, 
or  youle  be  arrested." 

"Where  will  I  put  it?" 

"  How  do  I  know?"  says  he.  "Youle  have  to  look  out 
for  that  yourself.  Git  it  out  of  here,  and  that  might}' 
quick,  or  you  will  git  yourself  into  trouble." 

And  he  rode  on  towards  town. 

Well,  as  he  rode  away  I  sot  down  and  begin  to  think. 
Here  I  was,  a  old  woman,  set  out  in  the  big  road  by  the 
Law — put  out  of  the  house  we  had  paid  $3,800  towards  ; 
the  house  empty,  and  now  comes  the  Law  and  orders  me 
to  even  git  away  from  where  the  Law  had  put  me.  What 
to  do  I  dident  know.  I  jist  sot  there  a  cryin  and  helpless, 
when  I  heerd  wagons  comin  down  the  road.  I  looked  up, 
and  there  come  two  wagons  and  four  men  down  the  hill. 

They  drove  up  and  stopped,  and  there  was  Tom 
Osborne,  and  Charley  McGlinchey,  and  that  fat  black- 
smith, and  Jones  the  baker,  all  from  Mineral  Pint.  They 
had  come  to  move  me. 

Tom  Osborne  had  wer.t  home  the  night  before  and  told 
them  about  me  bein  put  out  in  the  big  road,  and  they  went 
together  and  got  teams  and  come  and  moved  me  to 
town  here. 

They  seemed  to  be  nice,  kind  men,  but  talked  like  them 
Populists. 

They  dident  talk  much  to  me,  but  I  heerd  them  talkin  to 
each  other,  sayin  :  "Its  a  shame,"  "  a  disgrace  to  civiliza- 
tion," "wrong,"  "wouldent  be  if  the  people  could  borrow 


232  HETSY  GASKINS,  DIM1CRAT. 

money  from  the  government  like  they  do  in  Switzerland," 
and  all  sich.  They  even  said  :  "  The  time  haint  fur  off  when 
it  can  be  done,  and  the  likes  of  this  wont  be."  And  then 
they  said  a  good  deal  agin  the  money  power  and  polerti- 
cians,  and  sich,  until  I  was  glad  Jobe  wasent  there  to  flare 
up.  I  was  glad  he  wasent  there,  though  Ide  give  the  world 
to  know  where  he  is,  or  to  have  him  with  me. 

Well,  they  brought  me  to  town  and  rented  me  this  house 
here  at  1412  West  Front  Street,  and  paid  the  rent  for  a 
month  ;  then  -two  of  them  drove  off,  and  soon  brought  me 
a  load  of  coal.  While  them  two  were  gone  for  the  coal  the 
other  two  set  up  my  stove,  and  fixed  up  my  bed,  and  set 
things  around  in  pretty  good  shape  for  men  ;  then,  wishin 
me  good  luck,  and  hopin  Jobe  would  soon  git  work  and  I 
would  git  to  go  to  him,  they  drove  off.  They  all  looked 
pityin  like  as  they  left. 

I  went  to  the  post-office  the  next  mornin  to  tell  them 
I  had  changed  my  place  of  livin.  I  got  this  letter  from 
Jobe.  It  jist  seems  there  is  no  end  of  trouble  for  the 
people  who  are  poor. 

Poor  Jobe,  how  my  heart  bleeds  for  him.  Here  is  his 
letter.  Read  it  for  yourself  : 

JOBE'S    SECOND  LETTER. 

CLEVELAND  WORK-HOUSE, 

CLEVELAND,  O.,  March  5,  1896. 
To  Betsy  Gaskins. 

MY  DEAR  WIFE  AND  ONLY  FRIEND:  —  I  am  here  in  this 
prison — put  here  by  the  law.  God  only  knows  my  feelins. 
I  am  not  a  criminal.  Ive  done  no  wrong.  Betsy,  don't 
blame  me.  Pity  me.  I  am  a  old  man.  I  have  worked 
hard.  Ive  been  honest.  Ive  tried  to  do  right.  To-day  I 
am  in  prison,  wearin  stripes.  I  was  hungry.  I  had  no 
money.  I  asked  for  bread.  They  arrested  me. 


THEM  ROOMS.  THE  DIRECTOR  OF  CHARITIES. 


233 


L  L 


It  was  day  be- 
fore yisterday.  I 
had  hunted  for 
work  all  day.  I 
had  had  nothin 
to  eat  for  a  whole 
day  and  nite.  I 
was  passin  up 
Ontario  Street, 
near  Hull  &Dut- 
ton's  big  clothin 
store.  I  saw  a 
well-dressed 
man,  with  a  high 
silk  hat  on,  with 
a  hand  full  of 
paper  money, 
talkin  loud  and 
offerin  to  bet 
$500  that  Mc- 
Kinley  would  git 
the  delegates 
from  Allegheny  County.  There  were  several  fellers  standin 
there  a  listenin  and  talkin,  and  two  policemen.  I  stepped 
up  and  asked  the  feller  with  the  money  if  he  could  give  me 
enough  to  git  me  a  supper  and  bed.  I  was  so  hungry  and 
nearly  sick  by  sleepin  outdoors. 

The  feller  turned  around  and  looked  black  at  me.  Then, 
turnin  to  the  policemen,  he  ordered  them  to  arrest  me,  sayin  : 

"Ime  d — d  if  I  dont  intend  to  break  up  this  beggin  on 
the  streets." 

The  policemen  took  hold  of  me  and  jerked  me  out  of  the 
crowd  and  pulled  me  down  Champlain  Street  hill  to  the 
city  prison,  and  locked  me  in  a  iron  cage. 


I  In:  teller  turned  around  and  looked  black 
at  me." 


234 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


I  asked  one  of  them  who  the  big  man  was  that  ordered 
me  arrested.  He  said  it  was  "the  Director  of  Charities, 
one  of  the  leadin  city  officers." 

You  may  have  read  in  the  papers  of  him  a  havin  a  tramp 
arrested  for  askin  him  for  somethin  to  buy  bread  with. 

That  tramp,  Betsy,  was  me. 

They  say  he  gits  $5,000  a  year  for  bein  "  Director  of 
Charities." 

Well,  they  tried  me  next  mornin  and  found   me  guilty. 

I  am  up  for  ten  days.  I  cant  find  any  work  or  a  place 
for  you  till  I  git  out. 

They  brought  me  out  here  in  a  wagon  with  a  cage  on  it. 
They  call  it  the  "  Black  Mariar."  There  was  a  lot  of  us  in 
it.  Betsy,  pity  me.  Dont  blame  me. 

Your  lovin  husband,  JOBE    GASKINS. 

Mistur  Editure,  I  cant  comment.      I  feel  so  bad. 


CHAPTER   XLI. 

A    SORE    HAND. 

I    AM  sick.      I  have  been  sick  since  day  before  yisterday. 
I  have  a  high  fever.     My  head  bothers  me.      I  cant 
rite.    Here  is  another  letter  I  got  from  poor  Jobe.    Oh! 
how  I  wish  he  was  here.     I  know  he  would  care  for  me  and 
watch  over  me  and  do  for  me  while  Ime  sick.     Read  his 
letter  and  return  it.     They  seem  so  near  to  me.     I  havent 
been  able  to  be  out  of  bed  much  to-day.      If  Jobe  was  only 
out  of  that  dreadful  place. 

JOBE'S  THIRD  LETTER. 

CLEVELAND  WORK-HOUSE, 

CLEVELAND,  O.,  March  9,  1896. 
To  Betsy  Gaskins. 

DEAR  WIFE  :  —  I  got  your  letter  yisterday.  I  cant  tell 
you  how  I  felt  when  I  read  of  them  a  puttin  you  out. 

Betsy,  I  little  thought,  the  day  you  stood  beside  me  and 
become  my  wife,  that  the  time  would  come  when  you  would 
have  to  sleep  outdoors  in  the  big  road. 

I  felt  then,  Betsy,  as  though  I  was  strong  enough,  and 
God  knows  I  was  willin,  to  provide  a  home  for  you  as  long 
as  we  both  lived.  Dont  blame  me,  Betsy.  Ive  done  the 
best  I  could.  You  know  Ive  worked  hard,  and  we  have 
lived  savin,  but  by  some  unknown  reason  all  I  have  aimed 
is  gone.  Mr.  Richer  has  $3,800  of  it.  Ive  done  the  best 
I  could. 

I  have  to  work  hard  here  in  this  place,  but  Ime  not 
complainin,  nor  wouldent  complain  if  I  was  gittin  paid  for 
what  work  I  do,  so  that  I  could  help  you. 

235 


236 


BETSY  G  ASK  INS,  D2M1CRAT. 


"I  have  to  work  hard  in  this  place." 

Ime  a  wheelin  coal  to  the  furnace  and  a  wheelin  hot 
cinders  away. 

It  keeps  me  bizzy. 

There  are  lots  of  men  in  here.  A  great  many  for 
beggin — jist  as  I  am.  Betsy,  dont  let  the  neighbors  know 
they  have  me  locked  up.  I  feel  so  disgraced. 

I  feel  that  if  that  "Director  of  Charities,"  that  had  me 
arrested  and  put  in  here,  had  known  that  I  had  feelins ;  if 
he  had  known  that  I  was  a  honest  old  man;  if  he  had 
thought  of  the  difference  between  a  old  man,  hungry,  away 
from  home  and  out  of  money — I  say,  Betsy,  if  he  had 
thought  of  the  difference  between  sich  a  man  as  I  was  and 
a  man  drawin  $5,000  a  year  as  a  leadin  city  officer,  like 
hisself,  I  dont  think  he  could  have  had  the  heart  to  have 
had  me  arrested  and  sent  to  prison. 

Lots  of  the  fellers  in  here  seem  to  be  honest,  kind- 
hearted  people,  but  poor  and  away  from  home.  Not  bein 
known  to  the  officers,  they  are  arrested  and  sent  out  here. 


A  SORE  HAND. 


237 


Betsy,  I  long  to  see  you.  When  I  git  out  I  will  come 
back.  I  cant  find  any  work  up  here.  Nobody  seems  to 
want  to  hire  me. 

My  hand  is  sore.  I  can  hardly  use  it.  But  then  the 
feller  what  watches  me  work  keeps  me  a  goin.  He  dont 
allow  me  to  stop  a  minit  from  the  time  they  let  me  out  of 
my  cell  in  the  mornin  till  they  lock  me  in  it  agin  at  nite. 

The  way  I  come  to  hurt  my  hand  was — I  had  a  dream. 
Ive  been  a  dreamin  more  or  less  for  some  time.  Ime  so 
tired  and  my  bed  is  so  hard.  I  suppose  I  dont  sleep  sound 
is  why  I  dream  so. 

I  drearm-d  I  was  in  this  work-house  and  there  was  more 
than  a  thousand  other  men  in,  and  a  comin  in  from  ten  to 
thirty  a  day — mostly  for  bein  hungry  and  beggin. 

Well,  I  thought  one  bright  mornin  one  of  the  guards 
come  through  the  buildin  a  hollerin  and  poundin  on  a  big 
gong,  and  tellin  all  the  fellers  "to  come  into  the  big  yard" 
that  is  in  this  place.  He  said  that  they  had  some  good 
news  for  us.  "Glad  tidings  of  great  joy,"  says  he. 

I  thought  we  all  stopped  work  and  went  a  hurryin  to 
that  big  yard,  and  when  I  got  there  the  yard  was  alive  with 
people,  men  waitin  to  hear  them  "tidings." 

Well,  when  we  all  got  into  that  yard  two  nice-lookin 
men  climbed  up  on  the  platform  that  is  in  the  middle  and 
one  of  them  says  : 

" FELLOW-CITIZENS,  GENTLEMEN  AND  BROTHERS:  We  are 
delegated  by  the  proper  authority  to  declare  unto  you  this 
beautiful  morning  a  new  law  that  has  been  made  by  our 
brothers,  the  law-makers  at  Washington.  We  solicit  your 
undivided  attention  for  a  few  moments." 

He  then  read  : 

"Be  it  resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives, 
in  Congress  assembled:  That  the  chief  aim  of  human  gov- 
ernment should  be  to  secure  to  each  individual  member  of 


238  BETSY  CASK  INS,   DIMICRAT. 

such  government  contentment  and  happiness;  that  this 
can  be  done  only  by  securing  to  all  the  unrestricted  oppor- 
tunity to  employ  the  means  intended  by  the  Creator  for 
earning  a  livelihood — /.  <?.,  labor. 

" Therefore  be  it  enacted,  That  a  fund  of  $500,000,000  be 
provided  (by  the  issue  of  said  sum  in  full  legal-tender 
greenback  notes,  in  denominations  of  one,  two  and  five 
dollars)  and  set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  giving  employment 
to  such  American  citizens  as  may  have  no  other  employ- 
ment, and  who  may  go  before  any  board  of  county  commis- 
sioners in  the  United  States  and  certify  under  oath  that 
they  are  American  citizens,  are  out  of  employment  and 
desire  to  perform  manual  labor  in  the  service  of  this 
government. 

"Thereupon  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  county  com- 
missioners to  assign  to  such  citizens  work  in  improving 
any  of  the  public  highways  in  said  county,  or  in  construct- 
ing and  equipping  any  public  utility  in  and  for  said  county. 
The  wages  due  each  citizen  for  said  services  shall  be  paid 
to  him,  weekly,  by  the  treasurer  of  the  county  in  which 
the  services  are  performed,  on  the  warrant  of  the  county 
auditor  and  order  of  the  said  commissioners.  A  monthly 
statement  of  the  amounts  so  paid  out  shall  be  sent  by  the 
treasurer  of  the  county  to  the  Treasury  Department  at 
Washington,  and  thereupon  the  sum  thereof  shall  be 
repaid  from  the  fund  aforesaid  into  the  treasury  of  such 
county. 

"On  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act  it  shall  be  unlawful 
for  any  person  to  beg  or  ask  alms  in  the  United  States 
except  in  cases  of  physical  disability." 

Arter  he  had  read  this  law  says  he : 

"Gentlemen,  we  are  aware  that  most  of  you  are  here 
because  you  are  victims  of  the  system  that  has  heretofore 
prevailed — many  for  asking  for  bread  when  hungry,  others 


A  SOXE  HAND. 


239 


for  other  offenses,  which  you  may  have  been  forced  to 
commit  in  consequence  of  having  no  employment  and 
being  in  want. 

"Our  county  commissioners  have  assigned  and  set  apart 
work,  on  the  Shaker  Hill  road  and  Kinsman  Street,  suffi- 
cient to  give  employment  to  three  thousand  men  for  several 
months,  and  Governor  Bushnell  has,  by  proclamation, 
given  their  liberty  to  all  inmates  of  the  penal  institutions 
of  the  State  (except  the  penitentiary)  who  desire  to  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  work  as  provided  by  the 
law  I  have  just  read.  You,  gentlemen,  are  excused  from 
making  the  oath  mentioned. 


"One  nice  little  place  that  I  thought  I  would   rent  as  soon  us 
I  got  my  first  week's  pay.'' 

"Now,  all  you  who  desire  to  work  on  these  public 
improvements  will  form  in  line  and  pass  out  through  the 
office,  giving  your  correct  names  and  addresses,  as  you 
now  become  once  more  respected  American  citizens. 
Form  in  line,  two  abreast,  out  on  Woodland  Avenue, 
facing  east,  and  we  will  take  pleasure  in  conducting  you 
to  the  places  of  employment.  There  you  will  be  supplied 
with  the  necessary  tools,  and  arrangements  will  be  made 
at  different  places  where  you  can  get  accommodations  until 
you  receive  your  first  pay  for  services.  Your  compensa- 
tion will  be  $1.50  each  per  day." 


240  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 

At  that  he  stopped.  Every  man  in  that  yard  was  in  line. 
It  seemed  as  though  a  cloud  had  rose  up  off  from  that 
crowd.  Every  one  looked  happy,  cheerful. 

Well,  Betsy,  we  marched  out  into  the  open  air  onto 
Woodland  Avenue,  and  each  one  gave  his  real  name  and 
address  to  the  clerk  as  we  passed  out. 

Then  we  all  went  out  to  the  place  where  they  were  at 
work . 

There  they  were — hundreds  of  them — a  plowin,  and  a 
shovelin,  and  a  haulin,  a  talkin  and  a  laffin,  a  whistlin  and 
a  singin. 

I  looked  at  several  houses  as  we  were  on  our  way  out, 
and  saw  one  nice  little  place  that  I  thought  I  would  rent 
as  soon  as  I  got  my  first  week's  pay. 

When  the  week  was  up  I  went,  and  sure  enough  it  was 
empty.  I  hunted  up  the  owner,  and  got  it  for  $5  a  month. 
I  used  $3  of  the  other  four  to  pay  my  board. 

I  worked  there  three  weeks,  makin  $27,  and  had  sent 
for  you.  I  was  lookin  for  you  on  Saturday,  and  could 
hardly  wait  until  you  come.  I  felt  young  agin. 

Well,  when  I  got  to  my  boardin  place  on  Thursday 
night,  I  went  in  and  up  to  my  room,  thinkin  that  in  two 
more  days  you  would  be  with  me.  When  I  opened  the 
door,  there  you  was  a  comin  toward  me  with  your  arms 
stretched  out.  My  heart  leaped.  I  jumped  towards  you, 
throwin  out  my  arms  to  embrace  you,  when 

I  struck  my  hand  agin  the  iron  bed-post  in  my  cell  and 
nearly  broke  it.  It  woke  me  up.  Everything  was  cold 
and  dark.  You  was  not  there.  I  felt  so  queer  that  I  sot 
up  in  bed,  and  I  sot  there  a  thinkin  of  that  dream — thinkin 
of  how  glad  I  was  to  git  work  ;  thinkin  of  that  law,  and 
what  a  grand  country  this  would  be  if  sich  was  the  law  ; 
thinkin  of  that  little  house  with  green  winder-blinds ; 
thinkin  of  you  doin  your  cookin  and  sweepin,  your  dustin 


SI    WORKED   THERE   THREE    WEEKS." 


242 


BETSY  GASK1XS,   DIMICRAT. 


and  cleanin  in  that  little  house  ;  thinkin  of  me  a  makin  $9 
every  week,  and  a  countin  the  money  out  to  you  every 
Saturday  night  in  new,  crisp  greenbacks  ;  thinkin  of  all 
these  things,  and  then  thinkin  of  you  a  sleepin  out  there 
in  the  road,  you  agoin  hungry  and  without  shelter  because 
I  cant  git  any  sich  work  ;  thinkin  how  happy  we  might  be 
and  how  troubled  we  are.  I  jist  had  to  cry.  I  had  to, 
though  Ime  a  man.  I  sot  there  on  the  side  of  that  iron 
bed  till  I  nearly  froze ;  then  I  laid  down  and  went  to 


"Everything  was  cold  and  dark." 

sleep  and  slept  till  half-past  five,  when  the  watchman 
came  around  to  waken  me  up  to  go  to  wheelin  coal  and 
cinders  for  another  twelve  hours  for  nothin. 

I  will  git  out  a  Monday,  and  will  start  back  as  soon  as 
they  let  me  out.  Somethin  tells  me  I  ort  to  be  there  ;  and 
its  no  use  me  tryin  to  find  work  in  this  place  or  any  other. 
They  either  have  "all  the  help  they  need,"  or  else  "dont 
want  to  hire  a  old  man." 


A  SOXE  HAXD. 


243 


Hopin    this    will    find   you    well,    and    that   some    kind 
person  has  taken  you  in  out  of  the  big  road,  I  am,  Betsy, 
Your  lovin  but  discouraged  husband, 

JOBE  GASKINS. 

Mistur  Editure,  the  more  I  think  of  that  letter,  the  more 
I  think  of  that  poor  old  man  a  carin  for  me,  and  a  dreamin 
about  me,  the  worse  it  makes  my  head  ache  and  the  higher 
it  makes  my  fever.  If  I  had  the  money  I  would  send  for  a 
doctor,  but  I  haint  got  it ;  and  if  I  had,  I  haint  got  any- 
body to  go.  I  jist  have  to  lay  here.  No  fire,  no  one  to 
look  at,  no  one  to  talk  to — jist  lay  here  and  look  at  the 
ceilin  and  think.  He  have  to  quit. 
Hopin  your  folks  are  all  well, 

BETSY  GASKINS  (Dimicrat), 

Wife  of 
Jor.r.    GASKINS  (Republican). 


CHAPTER   XLII. 


HATTIE  MOORE. 

TUSCARAWAS  COUNTY  POOR-HOUSE, 
NEAR  NEW  PHILADELPHIA,  O.,  March  15,  1896. 

]R.  EDITOR:— My  name  is 
Hattie  Moore.  My  age  is 
seventeen.  My  father  was 
a  soldier.  My  mother  is 
a  widow.  I  was  betrayed 
by  one  of  the  leading  city 
officials,  and  while  he 
to-day  is  performing  the 
duty  and  drawing  the  sal- 
ary of  an  office  of  trust 
and  honor,  his  child  and  I,  its  girl  mother,  are  inmates  of 
this  poor-house. 

I  write  to  let  you  know  about  Betsy  Gaskins.  They 
brought  her  here  yesterday.  She  is  very  sick.  She  is 
delirious  and  talks  a  great  deal  in  her  sleep,  about  some- 
body by  the  name  of  Jobe,  and  about  their  home  and  high 
interest,  and  $3,800,  and  being  turned  out,  and  all  such 
things.  Judging  from  the  wrinkles  on  her  face  and  the 
hard  places  in  her  hands,  she  must  have  been  a  hard- 
working old  woman. 

I  pity  her  so  much  that  every  now  and  then  I  steal  into 
the  room  where  they  put  her.  I  stayed  in  there  nearly  all 
night  last  night,  though  I  knew  it  was  against  the  rules. 
But  my  baby  slept  well,  and  I  hated  to  let  the  poor  woman 
lie  in  that  room  all  night  sick  and  alone. 

244 


HATTIE  MOORE.  245 

I  just  thought  that  if  my  old  mother  was  sick  and  poor 
and  taken  to  a  place  like  this,  I  would  love  any  girl  who 
would  be  kind  to  her  and  pity  her.  I  would  love  her  even 
though  she  had  been  betrayed  and  was  in  the  poor-house 
to  get  away  from  the  taunts  of  a  heartless  world. 

I  asked  the  man  who  brought  her  here  who  she  was  and 
where  she  came  from. 

He  diden't  seem  to  know  much  about  her.  He  said  that 
some  people  found  her  sick  and  delirious  in  a  small  house 
in  the  west  end  and  notified  the  township  trustees;  that 
the  trustees  went  to  the  prosecuting  attorney  and  wanted 
to  know  what  was  best  to  be  done  with  her  and  if  the  law 
would  permit  them  to  hire  somebody  to  go  to  her  house 
and  take  care  of  her.  The  prosecuting  attorney  asked  if 
she  had  any  money  or  property.  The  trustees  told 
him  that  she  had  not ;  that  she  was  very  poor — had 
nothing. 

"Send  her  to  the  poor-house,"  says  the  prosecutor, 
"send  her  to  the  poor-house.  The  best  thing  to  do  with 
such  people  is  to  get  rid  of  them." 

So,  the  expressman  said,  they  came  and  got  him,  and 
they  drove  out  and  loaded  her  into  his  express  wagon,  and 
he  brought  her  out  here. 

"Her  name  is  Betsy  Gaskins,"  says  he. 

It  was  cold  and  stormy,  and  the  poor  old  soul  was  in 
great  pain  all  night. 

A  few  minutes  ago  I  went  in,  and  she  was  breathing  so 
weak  that  I  put  my  hand  in  her  bosom  to  see  if  her  heart 
was  beating,  and  I  found  this  letter  from  "Jobe  Gaskins." 
It  seems  she  is  a  married  woman,  and  he  has  been  away 
from  home  and  is  coming  back.  I  send  it  to  you,  and,  if 
you  see  him,  tell  him  where  he  can  find  his  wife. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  you  had  better  send  this  old  man's 
letter  back,  so  that  if  the  old  lady  gets  better  she  will  have 


246  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  D I  MICK  AT, 

it.      But  I  don't  know  as  she  will  ever  be  much  better  ;  she 
seems  to  be  sinking. 

Send  the  old  man  out  as  soon  as  he  gets  there. 

From  a  friend  to  Betsy  Gaskins, 

HATTIE  MOORE. 

JOBE'S   FOURTH  LETTER. 

AKRON,  O.,  March  12,  1896. 
To  Betsy  Gaskins. 

DEAR  WIFE  :  —  They  let  me  out  last  Monday.  I  felt  very 
strange  when  they  opened  them  big  doors  and  told  me  to 
go.  When  I  got  out  onto  the  street  I  felt  jist  like  a  feller 
does  when  he  is  lost  in  a  big  woods.  I  dident  know 
which  way  to  start.  But  I  wanted  to  git  back  to  you.  I 
saw  a  depot  marked  "  Woodland  Station,"  and  I  went  over 
there — went  in  and  sot  down.  Pretty  soon  a  passenger 
train  come  in  headed  south.  Everybody  got  up  to  take 
it,  and,  I  dont  know  why.  but  I  went  with  the  crowd  and 
into  the  car.  When  the  train  got  started,  I  thought  of 
havin  no  ticket  or  money. 

The  conductor  dident  get  around  to  me  until  we  had 
passed  Newburg. 

I  was  lookin  out  at  the  big  buildin  where  they  keep  crazy 
people,  when  he  teched  me  on  the  shoulder  and  says, 
"Ticket." 

I  told  him  I  had  no  ticket  nor  money  ;  that  I  was  a  old 
man ;  had  been  out  tryin  to  find  work  and  couldent ;  that 
my  wife  was  sick  and  I  was  wantin  to  git  back. 

He  said  :  "You  cant  ride  on  this  train.  Youle  have  to 
git  off." 

I  asked  him  if  he  couldent  let  me  ride ;  that  I  would  pay 
him  some  time  if  I  ever  got  the  money. 

"No,"  says  he,  "my  instructions  are  to  carry  no  one 
without  a  ticket  or  the  money." 


HATT1E  MOORE. 


247 


I  told  him  the  people  what  owned  the  railroad  was  rich 
and  wouldent  care  if  he  let  a  old  man  ride  to  Bayard. 

"No,"  says  he,  "you  must  git  off  at  Bedford.  line  not 
permitted  to  carry  you." 

Well,  when  they  got  to  Bedford  I  jist  sot  still,  thinkin 
he  might  forgit  me.  But  when  lie  come  in  I  saw  he  was 
mad.  He  rang  the  bell,  and  the  train  stopped  ;  then  him 
and  the  brakesman  come  and  took  hold  of  me  and  dragged 
me  out  of  that  train,  and  when  they  got  me  out  they  give 
me  a  shove,  jumped  into  the  train,  rang  the  bell  and  went. 


"He  teched  me  on  the  shoulder." 

They  shoved  me  so  hard  that  I  fell  down  and  struck  my 
knee  agin  a  big  iron  pin  that  laid  beside  the  track,  and 
hurt  it  so  bad  that  I  can  hardly  walk.  Then  I  come  on 
till  I  got  to  Hudson  ;  then  I  got  onto  a  freight  train 
between  two  cars  and  rode  to  Cuyahoga  Falls;  there  the}' 
arrested  me  for  it  and  was  a  goin  to  send  me  to  the  work- 
house agin.  But  when  I  told  them  all  they  let  me  go  if  I 
would  agree  to  git  out  of  town  in  thirty  minits.  They 
went  tli rough  all  my  pockets,  to  see  if  I  had  any  money, 


248 


BETSY  GASKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


before  they  told  me  that.      I  got  out,  and  now  I  am  walkin. 
I  will  git  there  as  soon  as  I  can.     The  soles   are  off  my 
boots,  and  my  feet  are  wet  nearly  all  the  time. 
Hopin  this  will  find  you  better, 

I  am  your  lovin  husband, 

JOBF.  GASKINS. 


I  got  onto  a  freight  train. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 
A  FAMILY  REUNION. 

TUSCARAWAS  COUNTY  POOR-HOUSE, 
NEAR  NEW  PHILADELPHIA,  O.,  March  25,  1896. 

MR.  EDITOR  :— Your  letter  asking  more  about  Betsy 
Gaskins   received.      I   will   tell    you    all    I   know. 
Whether  Betsy  Gaskins  is  living  or  dead  I  cannot 
say,  and   I   never  will   know,   though   what   I  do  know   I 
never  can  forget. 

The  strange  things  I  have  seen  since  I  last  wrote  you 
are  mysteries  that  can  only  be  guessed  at ;  they  cannot  be 
solved. 

Betsy  had  been  growing  worse  every  day  till  the  night 
of  that  terrible  storm.  The  rain  and  sleet  and  snow,  the 
wind  and  hail,  made  it  one  of  the  most  dismal  nights  I 
ever  saw.  The  roaring  in  the  woods  on  the  hill  back  of 
the  poor-house  sounded  like  a  storm  on  the  ocean.  In 
every  direction  cattle  and  sheep  were  bawling.  It  was  so 
cold,  and  the  noise,  I  suppose,  kept  them  awake. 

That  night  Betsy  was  worse.  She  had  smothering  spells 
that  it  seemed  she  would  die  in,  and  her  suffering  was 
terrible.  I  couldn't  leave  her,  though  my  baby  was  fretful 
and  kept  awake  till  after  ten  o'clock.  I  was  with  her 
almost  all  the  time. 

I  had  let  the  window  down  from  the  top  to  let  in  fresh 
air,  as  she  seemed  to  need  it.  I  had  no  light  except  what 
came  in  over  the  transom  of  the  door  from  the  hall. 

It  was  about  two  o'clock  that  I  was  sitting  there  all 
alone.  Betsy  seemed  to  be  getting  worse  very  fast, 

249 


250 


BETSY  GASKINS.  DIM  1C  RAT. 


"Pushing   back  the  hair  of  the   sick   woman,    leaned  over  and 
kissed  her  on  the  forehead." 

The  roaring  of  the  storm,  the  bellowing  of  the  cattle, 
the  creaking  of  the  window  shutters  and  the  moaning  of 
that  old  woman  made  it  sad  and  lonesome. 

I  was  sitting  there,  thinking  of  what  an  awful  thing  it  is 
to  be  poor  and  homeless  and  sick  and  friendless, — thinking 
of  the  wrong  and  misery,  the  cruelty  and  crime  that  is 
going  on  in  the  world  against  the  weak  and  helpless, — when 
for  some  reason  I  looked  toward  the  window,  and  there 
was  the  face  of  the  most  beautiful  little  girl  I  ever  saw, 
looking  in  just  over  the  sash.  Her  face  seemed  to  shine, 
it  was  so  bright.  Her  hair  was  the  color  of  gold.  I 
couldn't  speak. 

That  face  (for  the  face  and  shoulders  were  all  I  could 
see)  seemed  to  float  in  at  that  window,  and  for  a  minute 
stood  still,  like  a  humming-bird  in  the  air,  in  the  middle 
of  that  room,  with  its  eyes  steadily  fixed  on  the  old  woman. 
Then  it  moved  slowly  and  quietly  downward  and  lit  on  the 


.-/  1-'AMJ1.  Y  REUNION. 


251 


bed  beside  Betsy,  and,  pushing  back  the  hair  of  the  sick 
woman,  leaned  over  and  kissed  her  on  the  forehead.  At 
that  Betsy  opened  her  eyes  and  clasped  the  little  girl  in 
her  arms,  saying : 

"Oh,  my  child!" 

The  head  said,  "Mamma." 

They  held  each  other  there  a  minute  or  so,  when  Betsy 
all  of  a  sudden  threw  her  arms  in  the  air,  half  rose  up 
and  screamed  at  the  top  of  her  voice : 

"See!  see!  Look  yonder!  Your  father's  burning!  Go, 
child!  Go!" 

The  little  girl  turned  her  head,  and  they  both  looked 
toward  the  west  wall  a  second,  as  though  they  saw  some- 
thing terrible  to  behold.  Then  the  child  rose  as  quick  as 
thought,  and,  like  a  flash,  went  out  at  the  window,  scream- 
ing in  a  tone  that  made  the  chills  run  over  me,  "Oh,  my 
papa!" 

Betsy  fell  back  upon  the  bed,  and  seemed  to  be  greatly 
troubled  and  in  much  pain. 

I  had  set  there  possibly  an  hour,  watching  the  sufferings 
of  that  poor  woman,  and  thinking  of  that  little  girl,  when 
all  of  a  sudden  I  looked  toward  the  window,  and  there 
again  was  the  face  of  that  little  girl  and  the  face  of  an  old 
man.  The  little  girl  was  pointing  with  her  chubby  finger 
toward  the  sick  woman  ;  the  other  arm  she  had  around  the 
old  man.  He  was  looking  to  where  she  was  pointing, 
troubled  like. 

I  can't  say  I  was  scared.      I  just  felt  speechless. 

When  they  had  looked  a  little  bit,  both  of  them  came  in 
at  that  window — just  floated  in — and  stood  in  mid-air. 

Betsy  was  resting  easier,  and  it  seemed  they  didn't  wish 
to  wake  her. 

I  could  see  more  of  the  little  girl  than  before.  Both  their 
faces  were  bright,  and  the  lower  down  you  looked  the 


252 


/»'/•;  X'.V  ) '  G.ISA'J.YS,  DLM1CRA T. 


"There  lay  Mrs.  Gaskins." 


dimmer  they 
got,  till  they 
became  color- 
less. I  thought 
I  could  see  their 
feet,  as  clear  as 
glass. 

Well,  after 
they  had  rested 
there  in  the  air 
a  few  seconds 
the  little  girl 
took  her  arm 
from  around  the 


old  man,  and  they  both  settled  down  beside  the  old  woman, 
one  on  one  side  of  the  bed,  the  other  on  the  other  side, 
and  they  each  stroked  her  hair  back  with  their  hands. 

Pretty  soon  Betsy  opened  her  eyes,  and  looked  up, 
happy  like,  first  at  one,  then  at  the  other ;  then  she 
stretched  out  her  arms,  and  they  both  laid  their  faces  down 
beside  hers,  one  on  one  side  and  one  on  the  other. 

She  seemed  to  rest  easier  then,  only  her  breathing  was 
slower  and  each  time  farther  apart.  Pretty  soon  I  saw  a 
mist  or  something  gathering  over  her  between  the  old  man 
and  the  little  girl.  I  watched  it,  and  it  kept  growing 
brighter  and  brighter,  till  I  could  see  the  form  of  a  woman  ; 
then  I  could  see  that  it  appeared  alive  and  looked  like 
Mrs.  Gaskins,  only  happier.  Mrs.  Gaskins  began  to 
suffer  now,  and  was  getting  her  breath  hard. 

Finally  the  old  man  and  the  little  girl  rose  up,  and  each 
put  an  arm  around  this  form.  The  form  would  first  look 
at  one,  then  the  other.  Then  Mrs.  Gaskins  gave  one  long, 
hard  gasp,  and  straightened  out,  and  the  form  broke  loose, 
and  all  three  rose  up  in  the  air  and  floated  to  the  middle 


vN_-  WOW1  '  ' 

-•vS,  "  •  --^>  ^>r  V  o>  ,      ,       ,  >s^ 

^  /^^;      i 


254 


BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DIMICRAT. 


of  the  room,  stopped,  turned,  and  all  looked  at  the  bed. 
Then  they  turned  and  gazed  at  me.  I  couldn't  move.  They 
kissed  each  other  and  began  to  move  slowly  toward  the 
window,  each  with  an  arm  around  another.  As  they  went 
out  through  the  window  the  little  girl  began  to  sing  the 
prettiest  song  I  ever  heard,  in  a  low,  sweet  tone. 

When  they  were  gone  I  got  up  and  ran  to  the  window. 
There  they  were,  going  up  through  the  sky  above  the  barn, 
the  little  girl  singing  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 

I  stood  there  looking  as  long  as  I  could  see  them.  I 
heard  that  little  girl  still  singing  as  they  went  out  of  sight 
over  the  hill  back  of  the  poor-house. 

I  felt  so  weak  that  I  don't  know  how  long  I  stood  there, 


'&** 

"In  the  morning  there  was  found  a  white-haired  man.'' 

but  finally  I  thought  that  I  must  run  and  tell  the  super- 
intendent that  Mrs.  Gaskins  had  gone.  With  that  thought 
in  my  mind  I  turned  from  the  window,  crossed  the  room, 
and  was  just  opening  the  door,  when  I  happened  to  look 
toward  the  bed.  And  there  lay  Mrs.  Gaskins  as  she  had 
lain  all  evening,  only  stiller. 

I  was  scared.  I  could  hardly  believe  it.  I  went  to  the 
bed.  She  was  cold.  She  did  not  breathe.  I  rubbed  my 
eyes  and  hands  and  face  to  try  to  bring  myself  to  realize 
what  it  all  meant.  Then  I  went  into  my  room  and  lay 
down  beside  my  baby  till  morning. 


.-/  FAMILY  REUNION, 


255 


I  straightened  out  Betsy's  clothes  the  next  morning 
before  they  put  her  in  the  box.  While  doing  so,  I  found 
a  little  rose-bush,  tied  up  neatly  in  a  rag  and  pinned  fast 
to  her  skirt. 

This,  Mr.  Editor,  is  all  I  know  of  Betsy  Gaskins. 

Of  Jobe  Gaskins  I  know  very  little,  unless  it  was  he  that 
came  with  the  little  girl. 

In  yesterday's  daily  paper,  however,  I  noticed  this  item  : 

"NEW  PHILADELPHIA,  O.,  March  22,  1896. — Last  night  a 
supposed  tramp  entered  the  Canal  Dover  rolling-mill  in  an 
almost  frozen  condition  and  asked  for  shelter  from  the 
storm.  In  accordance  with  his  instruction  from  the  com- 
pany, the  night  watchman  ejected  him.  In  the  morning 
there  was  found  a  white-haired  man,  apparently  sixty 
years  of  age,  lying  cold  in  death  on  the  ash-heap.  The 
initials  'J.  G.'  were  marked  on  his  shirt.  His  face  was 
burned  so  that  it  scarcely  looked  like  a  human  counte- 
nance. His  feet  and  body  were  covered  with  ice  and  snow. 

"The  coroner's  jury,  judging  from  the  time  the  man  was 
refused  shelter  in  the  mill  and  from  the  amount  of  snow 
on  his  feet  and  body,  decided  that  he  must  have  died 
between  two  and  three  o'clock  the  night  before." 

Could  this  tramp,  Mr.  Editor,  have  been  the  old  man 
who  was  trying  to  get  back  to  his  sick  wife? 

HATTIE    MOORE. 

P.  S. — The  rose-bush  which  I  found  pinned  to  poor 
Betsy's  skirt  I  have  planted  on  her  grave. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

AFTER    THE    WOE,    THEN    COMES    THE    LAW. 

|ETSY  GASKINS'  sad  his- 
tory and  the  terrible  fate  of 
poor  Jobe — for  he  it  was 
whose  body  was  found 
on  the  cinder-pile — caused 
great  excitement,  not  only 
in  Tuscarawas  County, 
but  throughout  Ohio,  and 
even  in  many  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  One 
Chicago  paper  devoted  a 
whole  column  to  portraying  the  awfulness  of  turning 
an  old  man  from  a  friendly  shelter  on  such  a  cruel  night 
as  the  one  when  Jobe  Gaskins  froze  to  death.  Other 
papers  in  different  parts  of  the  Union  expatiated  on  the 
hardships  of  the  old  couple  from  the  time  the  hard  hand 
of  the  law  began  to  push  them  from  their  home  until  death 
took  pity  on  them  and  removed  them  beyond  the  reach  of 
man's  cruelty  to  man.  The  lesson  of  their  humble  lives 
was  made  the  subject  of  sermons  and  of  editorials  every- 
where. 

By  the  time  of  the  campaign  of  1896,  the  people  of  the 
United  States  had  become  so  wrought  up  that  there  seemed 
to  be  a  spontaneous  demand  for  the  restoration  of  the 
conditions  which  prevailed  when  it  was  possible  for  Jobe 
Gaskins  and  his  likes  to  pay  off  their  debts.  So  universal 
was  the  demand  that  three  parties  nominated  the  same 

256 


At-TEK   THE   WOE,    THEN  COMES   THE  LAir.  257 

candidate  for  president.  He  made  a  brilliant  campaign ; 
but,  owing  to  his  being  handicapped  by  a  plutocratic, 
mortgage-holding,  interest-taking  running  mate,  he  was 
defeated. 

Out  of  the  campaign  and  the  knowledge  gained  by  the 
people,  however,  much  good  resulted.  In  many  States 
legislatures  were  elected  that  were  above  the  corrupting 
influence  of  the  money  power.  The  people  were  awake  to 
their  needs,  and  many  laws  were  enacted  for  the  betterment 
of  the  conditions  of  the  common  people,  particularly  the 
poor  and  homeless. 

Ohio,  especially,  was  active  in  this  direction.  It  seemed 
that  nearly  every  member  of  the  legislature  had  learned 
the  story  of  Betsy  and  Jobe  Gaskins,  and  had  come  to 
Columbus  determined,  if  possible,  to  provide  laws  that 
would  stay  the  hands  of  Ohio  sheriffs  from  turning  honest 
people  out  of  the  shelter  they  had  erected  by  their  own 
industry  and  economy,  and  to  make  it  easier  for  people  to 
pay  for  homes. 

It  was  only  the  second  day  of  the  session  when  sixteen 
bills  were  presented  in  the  House  and  four  in  the  Senate, 
all  designed  to  lessen  the  hardships  of  debtors  and  the 
burdens  of  the  oppressed. 

There  seemed  to  be  a  unanimity  of  opinion  that  county 
treasurers  should  be  authorized  to  receive  money  on 
deposit  in  order  to  protect  the  depositor  from  loss ;  that 
money  so  deposited  should  be  exempt  from  taxation,  and 
that  legal  interest  should  be  reduced  to  four  per  cent. 
There  was  some  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  whether  or  not 
the  treasurers  should  do  a  general  banking  business;  all 
agreed,  however,  that  money  should  be  loaned  out  on  first 
mortgage  real  estate  security  at  not  to  exceed  four  percent, 
interest.  The  bills  were  referred  to  a  committee  appointed 
for  the  purpose,  and  the  following  ia  the  bill  reported  back 


258  BETSY  CASK  INS,  DLM1CRAT. 

by  the  committee,    the  chairman   of   which,    Mr.    L.   W. 
Chambers,  of  Ashtabula  County,  became  its  champion  : 

THE  BILL. 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ohio  : 
That  on  and  after  the  first  Monday  in  April,  A.  D.  1898, 
any  person  so  desiring  may  deposit  money  in  any  sum 
from  one  dollar  ($i)  up,  with  the  treasurer  of  the  county 
in  which  he  resides,  and  receive  therefor  a  certificate  of 
deposit  or  a  credit  on  a  pass-book,  and  all  such  money 
may  be  withdrawn  on  demand  unless  otherwise  stipulated 
in  the  certificate  of  deposit.  The  treasurer  may  require  a 
notice  of  sixty  days  for  the  withdrawal  of  any  sum  exceed- 
ing one  hundred  dollars  ($100). 

"SEC.  2.  The  county  treasurers  of  Ohio  are  hereby 
authorized  to  receive  on  deposit  money  from  the  citizens 
of  their  respective  counties ;  keep  the  same  separate  from 
the  other  funds  received  by  them  ;  place  the  same  in  a 
special  account,  to  be  called  the  People's  Savings  Fund ; 
provide  such  extra  clerk  hire  as  may  be  necessary  to  attend 
to  the  business  ;  lend  the  money  of  such  fund  on  first 
mortgage  real  estate  security  to  such  citizens  as  may  apply 
for  same,  at  a  rate  of  simple  interest  not  to  exceed  four  (4) 
per  cent,  per  annum. 

"All  securities  and  title  of  property  shall  be  certified  to 
the  treasurer  by  the  auditor  and  recorder,  and  shall  be 
appraised  by  a  board  of  appraisers  residing  in  the  town- 
ship where  the  property  is  situated. 

"Not  more  than  ninety  (90)  percent,  of  the  appraised 
value  of  any  property  shall  be  loaned  thereon. 

"The  trustees  of  the  respective  townships  of  Ohio  are 
hereby  constituted  a  board  of  appraisers  of  the  property 
on  which  loans  may  be  asked  in  such  township.  For  such 
appraisement,  whether  the  loan  is  granted  or  not,  the 
applicant  shall  pay  said  appraisers  a  fee  of  two  dollars 


AFTER  THE  WOE,  7V//-..V  COMES  THE  LAW.     259 

each.  At  least  two  of  such  appraisers  shall  go  upon  and 
assess  the  value  of  any  such  property. 

"The  borrower  shall  pay  all  incidental  charges  con- 
nected with  any  loan.  The  treasurer  shall  not  receive 
more  than  one  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  money  loaned, 
as  his  compensation  for  conducting  and  caring  for  said 
business ;  all  interest  received,  less  expense  to  said  treas- 
urer, shall  be  distributed  pro  rata  to  the  depositors  in 
accordance  with  the  amount  and  time  of  deposit. 

"A  failure  to  pay  interest  for  three  years  shall  work  a 
forfeiture  of  any  loan  made  under  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  and  the  property  shall  revert  to  the  county  without 
process  of  law  further  than  order  of  court  upon  sworn 
statement  of  the  treasurer  as  to  such  delinquency ;  and 
the  mortgagee  shall  be  permitted  to  occupy  such  premises 
for  such  a  length  of  time  as  the  payments  made  thereon 
shall  amount  to  a  yearly  rental  of  four  per  cent,  and  taxes, 
after  which  the  said  property  may  be  rented  at  not  less 
than  four  per  cent,  and  taxes,  or  sold  at  private  sale  at  not 
less  than  appraised  value. 

"Any  losses  sustained  by  the  depositors,  through  the 
defalcation  or  dishonesty  of  the  county  treasurer,  or  any 
other  officer  of  a  county,  shall  be  paid  by  the  county  in 
full,  and  the  said  officer  apprehended,  his  property,  as  well 
as  any  and  all  property  transferred  or  assigned  by  him 
during  his  incumbency,  shall  be  confiscated,  and  he  shall 
be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  dead,  without  benefit  of  trial 
except  to  ascertain  the  certainty  of  such  defalcation  or 
dishonesty.  In  such  cases  there  shall  be  no  appeal,  pardon 
or  reprieve." 

No  sooner  was  this  law  proposed  than  the  telegraph 
wires  were  put  in  use  to  notify  every  banker  in  Ohio,  as 
well  as  the  principal  bankers  in  Chicago,  New  York  and 
other  great  centers. 


260  BETSY  G  A  SKINS,  DJ MIC  RAT. 

Their  hired  agents  were  there.  In  two  days  the  lobbies 
and  corridors  of  the  State-house  at  Columbus  were  crowded 
with  well-dressed,  well-fed,  diamond-studded  gentlemen 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  crying  out  against  such  a 
law  and  picturing  the  direful  results  that  would  follow  its 
passage. 

Legislators  were  buttonholed,  wined  and  dined,  threat- 
ened, abused,  coaxed,  cajoled,  persuaded  and  bribed  for 
some  five  or  six  days.  The  newspapers  of  the  country 
denounced  the  bill  as  "revolutionary,"  "socialistic," 
"destructive,"  "ruinous,"  and  suggested  that  "the  militia 
should  be  called  out  to  drive  the  anarchistic  law-makers 
not  only  from  the  State-house  at  Columbus,  but  out  of  the 
State  of  Ohio."  They  bemoaned  "the  terrible  disgrace 
that  had  already  been  brought  upon  the  fair  name  of 
Ohio,"  and  claimed  that  "to  uphold  the  honor  and 
integrity  of  the  State  the  bill  must  be  overwhelmingly 
defeated."  Brilliant  lawyers  and  leading  business  men 
were  summoned  to  Columbus  to  oppose  the  bill  and  to 
tell  the  law-makers  how  bitterly  the  people  were  opposed 
to  it. 

All  this  time  from  ten  to  a  hundred  homes  were  being 
sold  weekly  by  the  sheriff  of  each  county.  Thousands 
were  starving  in  Chicago,  New  York  and  other  cities  and 
towns,  and  all  because  during  all  their  lives  they  had  been 
paying  directly  or  indirectly  from  six  to  ten  per  cent, 
interest  to  these  same  fat,  well-dressed  fellows  who  were 
now  at  Columbus  trying  to  prevent  legislation  for  the 
relief  of  the  people. 

For  days  it  looked  as  though  the  bill  would  be  defeated. 
Very  few  spoke  in  its  favor,  but  one  could  hear  criticism 
almost  anywhere.  Two  days  before  it  was  to  come  up  for 
third  reading  a  thing  happened,  however,  that  gave  it  new 
life.  Bill-posters  in  all  parts  of  the  city  of  Columbus 


AFTER  THE  WOE,  THEN  COMES  THE  LAW.     26l 

filled  the  bill-boards  and  store  windows  with  brilliant 
posters  announcing  that  on  the  following  night  the  famous 
actor  James  A.  Herne  and  his  company  would  play 

••BETSY  GASKINS  (DIMICRAT), 

WIFE   OF 

JOBE  GASKINS  (REPUBLICAN)," 

at  the  Grand  Opera-house,  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor  of  the 
city,  and  that  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  Ohio  had  been  invited  to  attend  free  as  the  guests  of 
Tom  L.  Johnson,  of  Cleveland.  The  large  posters  in  the 
windows  and  on  the  bill-boards  showed  "Betsy  Set  Out 
in  the  Big  Road,"  "Jobe  in  Berea,"  "The  Cinder  Pile," 
and  "Little  Jane  at  the  Family  Reunion." 

Crowds  gathered  before  the  windows  and  about  the  bill- 
boards, studying  the  pictures.  Strong  men  and  brave 
women  were  seen  to  wipe  away  the  tear  of  sorrow  as  they 
recalled  and  rehearsed  the  sad  tale  of  Jobe  and  Betsy 
Gaskins. 

In  the  afternoon  word  got  out  that  the  legislature  had 
under  consideration  a  bill  that  would  make  it  easier  for 
people  to  get  homes.  By  morning  of  the  next  day  it  was 
the  talk  of  the  town. 

The  night  of  the  show  the  large  theater  could  not  hold 
more  than  one-fourth  of  those  who  had  come  to  see.  The 
doors  were  closed  at  seven  o'clock,  and  the  performance 
began  at  once,  word  being  sent  to  the  disappointed  crowd 
outside  that  Mr.  Herne  would  give  two  shows  that  night, 
the  doors  to  open  for  the  second  performance  at  nine 
o'clock,  and,  further,  that  seats  would  be  free  to  all,  only 
those  paying  who  desired  to  contribute  to  the  fund  for  the 
needy. 

Immense    enthusiasm,    tears,    and    at    times    laughter, 


262  BETSY  GASA'/A'S,   DIM  1C  RAT. 

followed  the  players.  As  the  hardships,  trials  and  dis- 
appointments of  poor  old  Betsy  and  innocent  Jobe  were 
made  vivid  and  real  by  the  actors,  like  conditions  in  the 
lives  of  fathers,  mothers,  brothers,  sisters  or  friends  came 
to  the  memory  of  nearly  every  one  in  the  audience,  and 
tears  and  sobs  proved  the  interest  with  which  the  people 
were  drinking  in  the  great  lesson  that  was  passing  before 
them.  Finally,  when  the  curtain  fell  on  the  last  act., 
instead  of  the  crowd  rising  and  hastening  to  the  exits,  as 
crowds  usually  do,  they  sat  for  some  moments  as  if  spell- 
bound,. Then  individuals  began  to  rise  in  their  seats  here 
and  there,  and,  leaning  over,  to  converse  with  their  nearest 
neighbors  in  words  and  tones  of  consolation  and  hope,  as 
though  some  great  pall  hung  over  them.  Women  were 
crying;  the  men  looked  earnest  and  thoughtful. 

This  was  the  condition  of  the  audience  when  a  great 
tumult  was  noticed  in  the  front  of  the  house ;  loud  shouts 
of  men  filled  the  room,  while  above  all  others  and  on  the 
shoulders  of  two  brawny  men  there  was  lifted  a  middle-aged 
man,  pale,  nervous,  yet  seemingly  calm.  Every  one  seemed 
to  be  trying  to  reach  his  hand  or  touch  his  garments.  He 
smiled.  He  was  borne  forward  to  the  stage  and  placed 
upon  it.  At  the  same  time  two  other  men  climbed  on  with 
him.  When  the  larger  of  the  two,  who  I  afterward  learned 
was  the  representative  from  Seneca  County,  vigorously 
pounded  for  order,  the  crowd  settled  back  in  their  seats 
and  quiet  reigned.  Then  the  big  legislator  said: 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  have  witnessed  to-night  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  plays  ever  presented  to  an  intelli- 
gent public — wonderful  in  the  fact  that  it  is  so  true  to  life 
that  nearly  every  one  in  the  vast  audience  knows  some  near 
or  dear  one  who  is  only  Betsy  or  Jobe  Gaskins  under 
another  name  ;  wonderful  in  the  fact  that  this  proud  nation 
of  the  United  States,  after  an  existence  of  over  one  hun- 


AFTER  THE  WOE,  THEN  COMES  THE  LA  W.    263 

dred  years,  should  have  a  system  of  laws  that  works  such 
terrible  hardships  on  her  citizens,  and  then  claim  to  be 
civilized  or  advanced ;  wonderful  in  the  fact  that  these 
conditions  exist  on  every  hand,  in  every  direction,  and  yet 
a  nation  of  Christians  has  not  risen  up  against  them.  But, 
good  people,  my  heart  swells  with  joy  when  I  tell  you  that 
sitting  by  my  side,  carried  here  in  the  arms  of  admiration, 
is  a  man  who  has  set  out  to  relieve  the  people  of  Ohio 
from  such  slavery — who  has  introduced  in  the  legislature  a 
bill  which  will  come  up  for  a  third  reading  to-morrow,  and 
which  will  relieve  the  poor  of  many  of  such  hardships  as 
poor  Betsy  and  Jobe  Gaskins  had  to  bear — a  bill,  if  you 
please,  that  will  make  it  easier  for  us  and  our  children  to 
buy  and  pay  for  a  home. 

"Fellow-citizens,  I  present  to  you  the  Hon.  L.  W. 
Chambers,  of  Ashtabula  County,  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee and  champion  of  the  bill  I  have  just  referred  to." 

The  audience  arose  en  masse,  climbed  on  seats,  cheered, 
stamped  and  whistled,  while  Mr.  Chambers,  without 
a  smile,  but  calmly  and  courteously,  bowed  and  sat 
down. 

Then  the  big  legislator,  after  getting  the  crowd  quiet 
again,  said  that  the  bill  he  referred  to  would  enable  any 
one  with  reasonable  security  to  borrow  money  from  the 
county  treasury  at  not  more  than  four  per  cent,  interest, 
and  that  in  his  opinion  the  play  they  had  just  seen  had  in 
part  offset  the  influence  of  the  lobbying  bankers  who  had 
been  hanging  around  the  Assembly  hall  like  buzzards  for 
nearly  a  week. 

Mr.  Herne  then  came  out  and  requested  the  audience  to 
disperse,  stating  that  four  thousand  other  people  were 
waiting  outside  for  a  repetition  of  the  play. 

The  audience  left  reluctantly.  No  sooner  was  the  theater 
cleared  than  the  second  audience  made  a  rush  for  admission. 


264  BETSY  GASKINS,  D1M1CRAT. 

It  was  only  a  few  moments  until  the  house  was  filled  again 
from  pit  to  gallery. 

The  interest  manifested  was  fully  as  great  as  that  evoked 
by  the  first  performance,  and  the  acting  again  was  superb. 
At  11:20  o'clock  the  curtain  fell  on  the  last  act  for  the 
second  time  that  night. 

The  next  morning  early  people  from  all  parts  of  the  city 
could  be  seen  traveling  in  the  direction  of  the  State-house, 
in  street-cars,  carriages,  on  bicycles  and  afoot.  All  seemed 
to  be  intent  and  anxious.  Fully  fifteen  thousand  people 
were  on  the  State-house  grounds  by  nine  o'clock.  They 
talked,  whispered,  argued  and  made  speeches.  The  sole 
theme  was  Betsy  Gaskins  and  the  new  law.  The  antiquated 
crank  was  there,  claiming  that  it  "can't  be  done,"  "better 
leave  things  as  they  are."  Every  now  and  then  a  lobbying 
banker  could  be  seen,  slipping  along,  eyes  cast  downward, 
as  though  he  felt  his  guilt. 

When  the  session  opened  the  galleries  of  the  Assembly 
room  were  filled  with  people.  The  State-house  was  full. 
The  gavel  of  the  speaker  fell.  The  chaplain  offered 
prayer.  He  prayed  that  right  might  prevail ;  that  the 
poor  and  heavy-laden  might  be  unburdened ;  that  the 
bribe-taker,  together  with  the  bribe-giver,  might  perish 
from  the  land;  and,  above  all,  he  invoked  the  blessings  of 
Divine  Providence  on  the  acts  of  that  particular  day. 

After  prayer  silence  reigned  a  while.  It  was  broken 
when  a  tall,  partly  bald,  large-faced,  keen-eyed  law-maker 
over  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  hall  arose  in  his  seat, 
took  a  general  survey  of  the  house  and  galleries,  took  a 
large  roll  of  money  from  his  pocket,  and,  waving  it  above 
his  head,  said  in  thunder  tones  : 

"Behold!  See  that  money!  There  sit  in  this  house 
fifty-three  men  who  know  where  that  money  came  from, 
and  what  it  was  given  for.  They  know  it  because  they 


AFTER  THE  WOE,  THEN  COMES  THE  LAW. 


265 


each  have  received 
from  the  same  hand 
like  sums.  They 
came  here  sworn  to 
represent  the  peo- 
ple who  elected 
them  ;  they  would 
sell  them  into  slav- 
ery instead.  They 
are  bribe-takers, 
and  have  sold  their 
votes  and  influence 
against  the  bill  that 
comes  up  to-day. 
This  hall  for  the 
last  week  has  been 
surrounded  by  a 
horde  of  lobbying 
bankers  and  bank- 
ers' lawyers,  buy- 
ing the  manhood  of 
men  that  the  poor 
may  continue  to  be 
oppressed." 

Then,  turning  and  pointing  toward  a  banker  from  Cincin- 
nati who  sat  in  the  south  gallery,  he  said  : 

"There  is  the  man!  I  defy  him  to  deny  that  he  paid 
me  the  five  hundred  dollars  I  hold  in  my  hand  to  vote  and 
work  against  this  bill!" 

The  banker  was  livid.  All  eyes  were  turned  toward 
him.  He  sat  looking  straight  at  the  legislator,  who  pic- 
tured the  banker  as  a  "thief,"  a  "murderer, "a  "corrupter 
of  justice,"  a  "despoiler  of  government,"  and  closed  by 
waving  his  hand  over  the  hall  and  exclaiming  that  such 


Behold!     See  that  money!" 


266  BETSY  GASKINS,  DLM1CRAT. 

criminals  had  by  their  own  acts  put  themselves  beyond  the 
pale  of  the  law. 

By  this  time  the  crowd  had  become  furious.  The  Assem- 
bly arose  as  one  man,  many  with  rolls  of  money  in  their 
hands,  and  a  cry  went  up  that  was  awful  to  hear — a  cry  of 
lost  manhood  found. 

There  were  repeated  calls  for  order,  but  there  was  no 
order  to  be  had.  Well-dressed,  sleek  men  could  be  seen 
hurriedly  making  their  exit  from  all  the  doors  of  the  State- 
house,  and  hastening  at  full  speed  in  all  directions.  For 
more  than  an  hour  the  tumult  continued. 

In  the  meantime  some  of  the  spectators  had  caught  the 
Cincinnati  briber  and  a  lobbying  lawyer  from  Findlay,  and, 
securing  a  rope,  tied  them  together,  took  them  out  on 
High  Street,  and  made  them  run  a  gauntlet  of  some  three 
hundred  yards'  length  through  a  maddened  concourse  of 
American  citizens.  Some  had  staves,  straps,  switches  ; 
others,  lamp-black,  flour,  Venetian  red,  and  whatever  they 
could  get  to  deface  and  besmirch  the  fine  clothes,  fair 
faces  and  dignified  appearance  of  the  two  corrupters  of  the 
law.  The  pair  trotted  up  and  down  that  space  until  they 
became  so  fatigued  and  crestfallen  that  they  fell  prostrate 
and  begged  for  mercy.  They  were  permitted  to  go  on 
sworn  promises  never  again  to  come  to  Columbus  to  bribe 
or  influence  the  people's  legislators. 

After  the  tumult  had  subsided  and  when  quiet  had  been 
restored  at  the -State-house,  some  forty-eight  members, 
seemingly  under  the  influence  of  a  stricken  conscience,  took 
from  their  pockets  various  sums  of  money  and  sent  them 
up  to  the  clerk  as  a  contribution  to  the  fund  for  the  need}'. 
In  all  there  was  $21,468.  Many  admitted  that  it  was  bribe 
money,  and  many  others,  while  not  openly  admitting  it, 
said  so  by  their  convicted  looks.  It  was  a  solemn  occasion. 
It  seemed  as  though  money  and  dishonor  had  been  routed 


Al'TEK  THE   WOE,  T/fE.V  COMES  THE  LAW.          267 

and  the  spirit  of  human  justice  reigned  in  that  hall,  touch- 
ing each  heart  with  unseen  hand. 

The  bill  that  would  make  it  "easier  for  the  poor  to  live 
and  secure  homes"  had  come  to  life  again.  When  the  bill 
was  read  there  was  a  murmur  of  general  approval.  Its 
champion  made  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and  pathetic 
speeches  ever  delivered  in  the  State-house  at  Columbus. 
He  showed  how,  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  all  the  wealth  of 
the  nation  may  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  money-lenders 
every  sixteen  years,  and  leave  of  the  annual  increase  only 
enough  to  support  the  great  mass  of  the  people  with  a 
meager  living.  He  showed  how  the  bankers  had  con- 
spired together  to  rob  the  nation  in  time  of  peril;  how 
they  had  robbed  the  business  men,  robbed  the  masses, 
robbed  everybody  by  their  contraction  of  the  currency  and 
their  thieving,  unjust  laws.  He  said  : 

"We  have  had  demonstrated  here  in  this  hall  to-day 
the  manner  in  which  the  bankers  have  looked  after  the 
interests  of  the  country  for  the  last  thirty-five  years.  They 
know  no  god  but  money,  and  with  money  they  have  cor- 
rupted the  world.  They  are  of  no  service  to  either  God  or 
man,  and  yet  they  demand  that  both  man  and  God  bow 
before  their  will." 

He  showed  how  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  had  been 
stolen  from  depositors  in  the  banks  of  the  United  States 
by  suspension  and  failure,  the  result  of  the  most  dishonest, 
the  most  unsafe  system  of  banking  known  to  the  world. 
"The  American  banker  laughs  when  asked  for  security; 
takes  all  the  money  he  can  get ;  breaks  up  at  pleasure,  and 
mocks  the  grief  of  the  poor  depositors."  Closing  he  said: 

"Fellow-legislators,  I  appeal  to  you  for  the  passage  of 
this  bill.  I  appeal  to  you  in  the  name  of  common  honesty ; 
I  appeal  to  you  in  the  name  of  thousands  of  hard-working 
citizens  who,  desiring  to  save  their  earnings,  now  have  no 


268  BETSY  GASK1XS,  DIMICRAT. 

safe  place  to  put  them.  I  appeal  to  you  in  the  name  of 
the  millions  of  husbands  and  fathers  whose  shoulders  are 
stooped  under  the  burdens  of  high  interest  and  money 
contraction  heaped  upon  them  by  this  conspiring  horde  of 
money-mongers.  Let  our  motto  be:  'Justice  to  man- 
kind; equality  before  the  law.'  And  let  human  rights  and 
human  liberty  be  our  ever-burning  beacons  of  guidance.'' 

Then  followed  the  member  from  Sandusky  County.  He 
took  up  the  feature  of  the  bill  that  favored  the  exemption 
from  taxation  of  money  deposited  in  the  county  treasury. 
He  showed  how  a  tax  on  money  always  fell  on  the  bor- 
rower in  the  way  of  increased  interest;  how,  if  we  take 
taxes  from  money  and  give  the  people  a  safe  place  to 
deposit,  thousands  of  dollars,  now  kept  out  of  circulation 
and  hidden  in  the  homes  of  the  people,  would  coaie  out 
and  be  used  in  the  channels  of  trade  to  the  benefit  of  all. 
He  then  appealed  to  the  legislators  to  be  men  and  patriots, 
and  to  spurn  with  contempt  the  influence  of  the  lobbying 
money-lenders  and  corruptionists. 

Many  others  spoke  in  favor  of  the  bill,  and  only  one  or 
two  offered  any  opposition.  It  was  evident  from  the 
beginning  that  the  opponents  to  the  measure  were  routed, 
and  when  it  came  to  a  vote  the  bill  passed  with  only 
fourteen  votes  in  the  negative. 

When  the  result  was  announced  the  scene  on  the  floor 
and  in  the  galleries  was  one  of  joy  beyond  description. 
Liberty,  long  chained,  had  broken  her  bonds.  Men  grasped 
each  other's  hands,  and  women  wept  with  joy.  They  saw 
the  dawn  of  the  new  day  of  liberty — freedom  from  debt. 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  the  same  afternoon  and 
became  a  law  on  the  i8th  day  of  March,  1898. 

The  news  was  telegraphed  all  over  the  world.  The 
county  treasurers  of  Ohio  were  instructed  to  begin  on  the 
first  Monday  of  April  to  receive  the  people's  money  on 


AFTER   THE    WOE,    THEN  COMES  THE  LA  U  .          26g 

deposit  and  to  loan  the  same  to  the  people  at  four  percent. 

In  every  county  seat,  in  almost  every  town,  post-office 
or  store,  around  nearly  every  fireside,  the  new  law  was 
discussed.  When  the  first  Monday  of  April  came  scarcely 
a  man  could  be  found  who  did  not  thoroughly  understand 
this  "law  for  the  common  good  of  the  common  people." 
As  soon  as  the  doors  of  the  banks  were  opened,  men  began 
to  draw  out  their  money,  carry  it  over  to  the  county  treas- 
uries of  the  State,  deposit  it  and  depart  for  home.  Others 
called  at  the  county  treasuries,  signed  mortgages  bearing 
four  per  cent,  interest,  and  borrowed  money  to  pay  off 
their  mortgages,  held  by  the  banks,  drawing  seven  or  eight 
per  cent,  interest,  returning  home  feeling  a  thrill  of  new 
life  and  new  hope. 

No  sooner  would  one  borrower  pay  off  an  old  seven  or 
eight  per  cent,  mortgage  at  the  banks  than  would  some 
depositor  withdraw  the  money,  carry  it  to  his  county 
treasurer,  deposit  it,  and  another  borrower  would  deposit 
a  new  four  per  cent,  mortgage  and  pay  off  an  old  seven  or 
eight  per  cent,  mortgage  at  possibly  the  same  bank. 

This  continued  for  nearly  six  months,  by  which  time 
most  of  the  loans  on  which  the  people  had  been  paying 
seven  or  eight  per  cent,  had  been  converted  into  four  per 
cent,  mortgages,  payable  to  the  various  counties.  Most 
of  the  bankers  were  honest  and  continued  to  take  in 
money  on  old  mortgages  and  pay  it  out  to  the  depositors 
until  their  business  was  settled  up  in  full. 

In  Tuscarawas  County  the  aggregate  of  the  mortgages 
held  by  the  six  banks  was  $1,048,692.  On  this  amount  the 
people  saved  by  the  new  law  an  average  of  three  and  one- 
half  percent.,  or  $37,703.22.  This  sum,  instead  of  being 
paid  to  the  bankers  of  the  county  each  year,  was  saved  by 
the  borrowers,  and,  being  applied  on  the  principal,  helped 
pay  off  the  burdens  of  the  people. 


270  BETSY  Cr'./.YA'/.V.V,   D I  MIC  RAT. 

The  first  man  in  New  Philadelphia  to  withdraw  his 
deposit  was  Clem  Waltz.  He  had  $2,200  in  the  First 
National.  He  drew  it  out  at  9:10  a.  m.,  took  it  to  the 
county  treasurer,  deposited  it  at  9:28  a.  m.;  and  at  9:52 
a.  m.  Seymour  Grimes  borrowed  $1,600  of  it  on  his  River 
Bottom  farm,  and  paid  off  a  mortgage  against  him  held  by 
the  same  First  National.  About  the  same  time  Jacob 
Moore  borrowed  $500  on  his  house  and  lot  on  Eighth 
Street  for  the  same  purpose.  So  by  10  o'clock  $2,100  of 
that  $2,200  taken  out  by  Waltz  was  back  in  the  bank,  and 
two  hardworking,  honest,  industrious  citizens  were  paying 
only  four  per  cent,  interest  instead  of  seven  or  eight.  And 
Clem  Waltz  had  all  of  Tuscarawas  County  back  of  him  as 
security  for  his  $2,200,  and  would  receive  three  per  cent, 
interest  on  his  money  clear  of  taxes. 

About  ii  o'clock  Robert  Witt  came  into  the  county 
treasurer's  office  with  $2,000  of  the  same  money  that  had 
been  paid  to  the  bank  by  Moore  and  Grimes,  and  by  noon 
it  was  loaned  out  to  other  persons  who  would  rather  pay 
four  per  cent,  interest  than  seven  or  eight.  In  the  after- 
noon business  was  still  brisker. 

The  first  day  there  was  $38,000  withdrawn  from  the 
various  banks;  deposited  with  the  county  treasurer  ; 
loaned  to  the  same  people  that  owed  the  banks  ;  paid  back 
into  the  banks ;  taken  out  and  placed  in  the  treasury,  etc. 

The  first  week  loans  to  the  amount  of  $356,828  were 
thus  changed.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  happy  except  a 
banker  here  and  there.  Many  bankers,  however,  admitted 
that  they  were  pleased  to  see  the  poor  have  more  chance 
in  life. 

In  six  months'  time  all  the  banks  except  the  First 
National  had  closed  up  their  business  and  quit.  Business 
in  all  other  lines  has  picked  up.  Two  of  the  ex-bank- 
ers are  clerks  in  the  county  treasurer's  office,  while 


AFTER   THE    WOE,    THEN  COMES   THE  LAW.         271 

the  others,  being  rich,  have  decided  not  to  engage  in  any 
business  for  a  while,  feeling  that  it  is  due  themselves  and 
the  community  that  they  take  a  long-needed  rest. 

Betsy's  dream  has,  at  least  in  part,  come  true.  Jobe's 
dream  still  remains  to  be  realized.  Millions  of  men  are 
still  out  of  work.  But  the  people  have  been  aroused. 
They  are  thinking  hard,  and  soon  they  will  act.  They 
will  act  at  the  ballot-box,  and  by  their  votes  they  will 
declare  that  "the  chief  aim  of  human  government  should 
be  to  secure  to  each  individual  contentment  and  happi- 
ness, and  that  this  can  be  done  only  by  securing  to  all  the 
unrestricted  opportunity  to  labor." 

"Work  for  the  unemployed"  is  the  issue  on  which  the 
people  will  fight  and  win  the  battle  of  the  ballots. 

There  is  much  talk  that  a  memorial  be  erected  to  Betsy 
Gaskins — not  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  her  hardships, 
but  to  ever  keep  the  people  in  mind  of  the  fact  that  every 
liberty  or  right  we  enjoy  has  cost  much  suffering,  distress 
and  woe,  and,  further,  that  every  advance  toward  a  perfect 
state  of  human  society  as  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
in  spite  of  selfish  and  ignorant  wealth,  and  never  by  its  aid. 

Long  may  the  spirit  of  human  justice  live,  is  the 
prayer  of  THK  EDITOR. 


BROTHERS    ALL 


BROTHER  of  mine,  if  one  should  come, 
Should  come  to  your  door  to-day, 

With  the  marks  of  the  nails  in  His  hands  and  the  scars 
Of  the  thorns  on  His  brow,  and  say  : 

"  Brother  of  mine,  I  stand  in  need; 

I  am  He  who  was  crucified  ; 
Will  you  help  me  to-da)r  in  word  and  deed? 

Will  you  stand  to-day  at  my  side?" 

Brother  of  mine,  I  know  that  you 

Would  give  Him  this  answer  true  : 
;'  You  died  for  me,  and  what  can  I  do 

But  die,  if  I  may,  for  you?" 

Brother  of  mine,  if  one  should  come, 

Should  come  to  your  door  to-day, 
With  the  scars  of  toil  on  his  hands  and  the  marks 

Of  the  sweat  on  his  brow,  and  say  : 

"  Brother  of  mine,  I  stand  in  need  ; 

I  am  being  crucified  ; 
I  have  sought  for  work  from  door  to  door  ; 

I  am  everywhere  denied. 

"  Brother  of  mine,  I  ask  not  alms  ; 

I  have  asked  no  man  to  give  ; 
I  but  ask  for  work  to  earn  my  bread  ; 

I  ask  the  right  to  live." 

Brother  of  mine,  what  would  you  say, 

What  would  your  answer  be 
To  this  lowly  brother  of  Him  who  said  : 

"Even  so  unto  me." 

272  HENRY  BENSON. 


Part  II 


THK  WORLD'S  OPPRESSOR. 


PART   II 


Present  Day  Problems 


EDITKD   BY   K.    L.    ARMSTRONG 


CONTENTS  OF  FART  II. 


}'AG  K 

I.     The  Impending  Revolution 277 

II.     The  Philosophy  of  Money 283 

III.  A  Bird's-eye  View  of  American  Financial  History.      By  Samuel 

Leavitt 3°7 

IV.  The  Eight  Money  Conspiracies 345 

V.     Financial  Authorities 352 

VI.     Interest  and  Usury 3^° 

VII.     Debt  and  Slavery 387 

VIII.     The  Laws  of   Property.       By   Lyinan  Trumbull 393 

IX.     Direct  Legislation 4O1 


I. 

THE  IMPENDING  REVOLUTION. 

"And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses.  Wherefore  criest  thou?     Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go  forward." — Exodus  14:15. 

THE  purpose  of  the  following  pages  is  to  present  in 
compact  form  a  series  of  articles  on  money  and 
kindred  subjects  from  the  point  of  view  of  one 
who,  realizing  that  a  world-wide  economic  revolution  is 
imminent,  hopes  that  this  revolution  will  be  accomplished 
by  reason  and  in  peace,  not  by  treason  and  violence — by 
book  and  ballot,  not  by  bullet  and  bayonet.  It  is  not 
intended  to  make  a  special  plea  for  the  doctrines  of  any 
particular  school  of  economics,  or  of  any  political  party. 
The  object  is  rather  to  place  in  concrete  the  arguments  and 
principles  of  many  branches  of  Reform  thought  which, 
while  widely  divergent  in  respect  of  methods,  have  a  com- 
mon aim  in  the  emancipation  of  industry. 

The  many  elements  which  make  up  the  great  and  grow- 
ing army  of  Reform  may  be  segregated  into  two  divisions — 
individualists  and  collectivists.  In  the  early  history  of 
this  nation  the  men  who  had  battled  for  its  independence 
were  similarly  divided  into  two  great  parties — one  advo- 
cating the  centralization  of  power  in  the  national  govern- 
ment, the  other  demanding  for  each  State  sovereign 
independence.  The  flexibility  of  our  Constitution  is 
ascribed  to  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers,  who  sought  out  and 
adopted  what  was  best  in  the  ideas  of  both.  So  out  of  the 
apparently  conflicting  elements  of  the  Reform  movement 
will  come  the  ultimate  solution  of  economic  problems. 

277 


278  PRI<:SE\TT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

The  editor  is  in  thorough  accord  with  the  collectivists, 
whether  they  be  known  as  socialists,  nationalists  or  co-oper- 
ators, in  so  far  as  they  advocate  the  public  ownership  of 
monopolies.  The  people  should  own  and  operate  the 
railroads,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  etc.,  as  they 
already  own  the  post-office.  The  people  should  also  own 
and  operate  the  street  railroads,  water-works,  gas-works, 
electric  light  plants,  etc.  The  notorious  corruption  of  our 
law-making  bodies  is  due  almost  wholly  to  their  power  to 
grant  special  privileges  and  to  sell  public  franchises  to 
private  individuals  or  corporations.  Legislative  reform 
that  ignores  the  cause  of  corruption  is  never  remedial  and 
seldom  even  palliative.  Public  ownership  of  natural  monop- 
olies will  abolish  the  bribe-taker  by  making  impossible  the 
bribe-giver. 

The  editor  believes  also  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  govern- 
ment to  provide  for  every  citizen  willing  to  work  full  and 
free  opportunity  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  therefore  advo- 
cates government  employment  for  the  unemployed. 

The  editor  further  believes  that  reforms  in  these  direc- 
tions can  only  be  accomplished  by  direct  legislation,  and  a 
special  chapter  is  therefore  devoted  to  that  subject. 

The  problem  which  now  presses  most  persistently  for 
immediate  solution  is  that  of  money.  The  crying  need  of 
the  hour  is  to  provide  work  for  the  unemployed.  Tinkering 
with  the  tariff  will  not  do  this,  because  you  cannot  make  a 
people  prosperous  by  taxation.  You  can  set  the  wheels  of 
industry  in  motion,  however,  by  putting  money  in  circu- 
lation. 

And  what  is  money? 

Money  is  the  public  credit,  stamped  or  imprinted  upon,  or 
represented  by,  metal,  paper,  or  any  other  convenient 
substance  recognized  by  law  or  usage,  and  employed  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  and  a  measure  of  values. 


THE  IMPENDING  REVOLUTION. 


279 


Money  is  money  only  so  long  and  in  so  far  as  it  repre- 
sents the  public  credit.  Moses,  as  well  as  the  early  fathers 
of  the  Christian  Church,  undoubtedly  adopted  this  view 
of  money  when  they  denounced  usury,  which  is  the  device 
whereby  the  drones  in  humanity's  bee-hive,  monopolizing 
the  public  credit,  have  in  all  ages  exacted  tribute  from  the 
workers. 

We  have  seen  what  money  is.  Now  let  us  see  how  we 
can  best  circulate  it. 

Suppose  that  this  country  were  governed  by  a  czar,  an 
autocrat,  with  absolute  power  to  make  what  laws  he  pleased 
for  the  government  of  his  people.  Suppose  this  autocrat 
should  issue  an  order  increasing  the  standing  army  to  one 
million  men,  these  one  million  men  to  be  armed,  not  with 
muskets  and  swords,  but  with  pickaxes,  shovels,  etc.,  and 
to  be  set  to  work  improving  roads,  reclaiming  desert  and 
waste  lands,  etc.  Suppose  these  men  were  paid  $1.50  a 
day  in  money  issued  for  that  purpose  by  the  government. 
What  would  be  the  result? 

One  million  of  men  would  be  taken  from  the  overcrowded 
labor  market,  and  at  the  end  of  each  week  nine  million 
dollars  would  be  put  in  circulation. 

Would  it  be  necessary  to  pay  these  men  in  gold  and 
silver?  No.  Would  not  mere  paper  money  inscribed 
something  like  this,  in  denominations  of  one,  two,  five, 
ten,  twenty  and  fifty  dollars,  answer  all  purposes? 


THIS  CERTIFICATE,  TO  THE  AMOUNT  OF  ITS  FACE 
VALUE,  WILL  BE  RECEIVED  BY  THE  GOVERN- 
MENT OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  PAYMENT  OF 

ALL  PUBLIC  DUES,  AND  IS  A  FULL  LEGAL 
TENDER  IN  THE  PAYMENT  OF  ALL  DEBTS, 
PUBLIC  AND  PRIVATE. 


28o  PRESENT  DA  V  PROBLEMS. 

Would  not  these  certificates  pass  everywhere  for  their 
face  value?  Would  the}'  not  have  back  of  them  all  the 
power  of  the  law? 

And  would  they  not  have  the  same  power  if  they  were 
issued  and  ordained,  not  by  an  autocrat  holding  merely 
a  fictitious  authority,  but  by  the  will  and  the  vote  of  a 
sovereign  people?  Would  they  not  be  backed  by  all  the 
wealth  of  the  nation? 

The  right  to  issue  money  is  a  sovereign  right  and  should 
be  jealously  guarded  by  a  sovereign  people.  To  delegate 
this  power  to  banks  and  money-lenders  is  as  grave  an  error 
as  it  would  be  to  confer  on  a  class  the  privilege  of  making 
laws  for  the  whole  community. 

The  volume  of  money  should  be  regulated  to  suit  the 
requirements  of  all  the  people  and  not  the  greed  of  those 
who  thrive  on  usury. 

The  use  of  metals  for  money  is  unscientific,  and  they 
will  eventually  be  relegated  to  obscurity  with  the  shells, 
pelts,  tally-sticks  and  other  cumbrous  mediums  of  exchange 
employed  by  our  ancestors.  But  great  reforms  cannot  be 
accomplished  at  once.  Gold  and  silver  are  the  money  of 
the  Constitution.  The  act  of  1873,  which  made  gold  alone 
the  basis  of  credit,  and  which,  by  reducing  the  volume  of 
money,  doubled  the  burden  of  debt,  was  a  violation  of  the 
fundamental  law  of  our  government.  The  wrong  per- 
petrated in  1873  must  be  righted  now.  This  is  the  first 
great  step  in  monetary  reform. 

Following  this,  the  issue  of  interest-bearing  bonds  must 
be  stopped  forever.  The  careful  student  will  find  that 
interest  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  our  financial  ills.  Unselfish 
patriotism  must  abolish  usury  by  substituting  the  credit  of 
all  the  people  for  that  of  the  banks. 

Every  physical  or  moral  ill  is  the  result  of  some  breach 
of  natural  or  divine  law.  For  generations  we  have 


THE  IMPENDING  REVOLUTION.  28l 

violated  the  laws  of  God  as  they  relate  to  money  and  to 
land. 

"And  if  thy  brother  be  waxen  poor  and  fallen  in  decay 
with  thee,  then  thou  shalt  relieve  him  ;  yea,  though  he  be 
a  stranger  or  a  sojourner;  that  he  may  live  with  thee. 
Take  thou  no  usury  of  him  or  increase ;  but  fear  thy  God, 
that  thy  brother  may  live  with  thee."  (Lev.  25:  36-37.) 

Moses,  the  inspired  law-giver,  the  great  soldier-poet- 
statesman,  who  led  a  semi-barbarous  people  from  the 
slavery  of  Egypt  and  made  of  them  a  nation  which  endured 
the  longest  in  the  world's  history,  wrote  these  words. 

We  also  read:  "The  land  shall  not  be  sold  forever; 
for  the  land  is  mine  [saith  the  Lord]  ;  for  ye  are  strangers 
and  sojourners  with  me."  (Lev.  25  :  23.) 

Let  the  Christian  world  cease  bickering  over  questions 
of  dogma  and  study  again  the  inspired  law  of  Moses,  the 
law  which  Christ  came  to  fulfill,  and  a  solution  of  all  the 
many  questions  which  now  vex  us  will  soon  be  found. 

Under  the  Mosaic  law,  slaves  were  emancipated,  human 
life  was  made  sacred,  debtors  were  liberated  every  seven 
years,  inherited  property  was  divided  and  paternal  in- 
heritances were  alienated,  luxury  and  extravagance  were 
discouraged,  and  by  forbidding  land-monopoly  and  usury 
(in  the  Bible  usury  and  interest  are  synonymous)  dis- 
proportionate fortunes  and  vast  accumulations  of  wealth, 
which  have  caused  the  decline  of  the  world's  great  empires 
and  are  now  threatening  the  foundations  of  modern 
civilization,  were  made  impossible. 

Chattel  slavery  no  longer  exists  in  any  part  of  the 
civilized  world,  imprisonment  for  debt  has  been  abolished, 
the  right  of  the  people  to  rule  is  established,  but  humanity 
is  still  bound  in  chains  of  servitude  as  galling  and  oppress- 
ive as  in  any  period  of  its  history.  The  rule  of  kings  is 
passing  away,  but  the  autocracy  of  money  and  monopoly 


282 


PRESENT  DAY  PROFILE  MS. 


is   seated   on   the   throne   and   swaying   a   more   imperious 
scepter. 

But  the  people  have  it  in  their  power  to  overthrow  their 
oppressors.  In  this  country,  at  least,  we  have  the  ballot. 
The  'duty  of  the  hour  is  to  study  political  economy,  so  that 
this  weapon  may  be  wielded  intelligently  and  effectively. 
"Education"  must  be  our  watchword.  It  is  only  by 
education  that  we  may  hope  to  gain  the  three  great  essen- 
tials for  perfect  liberty  and  equality :  direct  legislation — 
direct  money — direct  taxation.  These  will  establish  forever 
the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 


II. 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY. 

'*  The    American    people    must    learn    the    lesson   of    money 
or  they  are  lost." 

r  ¥  "*HE  word  "money"  is  derived  from  the  Latin  nwneta 

(from    moneo,    to    warn),     meaning     "warned"    or 

"admonished."     Moneta  was  a  surname   for  Juno, 

because  she  was  believed  to  have  warned  the  Romans  by 

means  of  an  earthquake  to  offer  sacrifice.      In  the  temple 

of  Juno  Moneta  coins  were  made;  hence  moneta,  meaning 

either  a  mint,  or  coin,  or  coined  money. 

The  English  word  "money"  is  defined  by  Webster  as 
"an}'  currency  usually  and  lawfully  employed  in  buying 
and  selling;"  and  the  word  "currency"  is  defined  as  "that 
which  is  in  circulation  or  is  given  and  taken  as  having  or 
representing  value." 

Varieties  of  Money. 

Until  recent  times  many  substances  entirely  foreign  to 
our  modern  ideas  of  money  were  used  as  measures  of 
value,  among  which  were: 

Leather.  In  Rome  and  Sparta  700  B.  C.,  and  in  Persia, 
Tartary,  France  and  Spain  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century. 

Bark.  China  used  the  inner  bark  of  the  mulberry  tree 
in  the  fourteenth  century. 

Base  Metals.  Iron  was  used  by  the  ancient  Spartans, 
Romans  and  Hebrews  ;  tin  was  used  in  ancient  Syracuse 
and  Britain,  while  lead  is  still  used  in  Burmah  and  brass 
in  China. 

All  of  these  forms  of  money  were  stamped  with  some 

283 


284  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

sort  of  design  indicating  their  exchangeable  value  and  by 
whose  authority  they  were  issued. 

Wood.  Several  ancient  governments  used  money  made 
of  wood.  From  the  time  of  Henry  I.  (A.  D.  1273)  up  to 
the  foundation  of  the  Bank  of  England,  in  1694,  a  period 
of  over  four  hundred  years,  England  circulated  a  legal- 
tender  money  make  of  wood,  called  "exchange  tallies." 
The  "tally"  issued  by  the  British  Exchequer  was  a  stick 
or  bit  of  peeled  rod  upon  which  notches  were  cut,  indicative 
of  an  account,  pledge  or  other  commercial  transaction.  It 
was  split  in  such  a  way  as  to  divide  the  notches.  One-half 
the  "tally"  was  given  to  the  payer  and  one-half  was 
retained  by  the  Exchequer;  and  the  transaction  might  be 
verified  at  any  time  by  fitting  the  two  halves  together, 
when  the  notches  would  be  found  to  "tally"  with  each 
other  if  the  check  had  not  been  tampered  with.  Jonathan 
Duncan  said  that  these  wooden  representatives  of  value 
circulated  freely  among  the  people  and  sustained  the  trade 
of  England. 

Wampum.  One  of  the  prevailing  forms  of  money  in  use 
among  the  New  England  colonies  was  wampum.  This 
was  simply  strings  of  white  and  black  beads  made  from 
sea-shells  found  along  the  New  England  coasts.  In  1641 
Massachusetts  made  these  beads  a  legal  tender  at  the  rate 
of  six  for  a  penny  up  to  the  sum  of  ^10;  and  they  were 
receivable,  at  that  rate,  for  all  judgments  and  taxes.  In 
1643  the  limit  of  this  legal  tender  was  reduced  to  40 
shillings.  In  1649  the  colony  passed  a  statute  forbidding 
the  receipt  of  wampum  for  taxes,  and  its  use  as  money 
rapidly  declined,  though  it  still  circulated  in  a  limited  way 
in  several  of  the  colonies  as  late  as  1704. 

Tobacco.  The  people  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  before 
the  Revolutionary  war  and  for  some  time  after,  in  default 
of  gold  and  silver,  used  tobacco  as  money,  made  it  money 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  Ol-'  MOXEY.  285 

by  law,  reckoned  the  fees  and  salaries  of  government 
officers  in  tobacco  and  collected  the  public  taxes  in  that 
article. 

Peltries.  In  an  early  day  several  of  the  Western  States 
made  peltries  a  legal  tender.  In  1785  the  people  of  the 
territory  now  called  Tennessee  organized  a  State  called 
"Franklin"  and  passed  the  following  act,  which  is 
illustrative  of  similar  acts  in  other  States  : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Franklin,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the 
same  : 

"That  from  the  first  day  of  January,  1789,  the  salaries 
of  the  officers  of  the  Commonwealth  be  as  follows: 

"His  Excellency  the  Governor,  per  annum,  1,000  deer 
skins. 

"  His  Honor  the  Chief  Justice,  per  annum,  500  deer  skins. 

"The  Secretary  to  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  per 
annum,  500  raccoon  skins. 

"The  Treasurer  of  the  State,  450  raccoon  skins. 

"Each  County  Clerk,  300  beaver  skins. 

"Clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons,  200  raccoon  skins. 

"Members  of  the  Assembly,  per  diem,  3  raccoon  skins. 

"Justice's  fee  for  signing  a  warrant,  i  muskrat  skin. 

"To  the  constable  for  serving  a  warrant,  i  mink  skin. 

"Enacted  into  law  the  i8th  day  of  October,  1788,  under 
the  great  seal  of  State." 

Gold  and  Silver  have  been  used  as  money  metals  from 
the  earliest  times  of  recorded  history.  The  Bible  has 
many  references  to  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  early 
as  the  age  of  Abraham. 

Paper.  The  first  printed  bank  notes  of  which  we  have 
any  record  were  issued  by  Palmstruck,  a  banker  of  Sweden, 
in  1660. 

Intrinsic  Value. 

No  kind  of  money,  as  such,  has  any  intrinsic  value,  for 
the  instant  the  material  of  which  the  money  is  made  is 


286  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

used  for  another  purpose  it  ceases  to  be  money.  As 
money,  the  sole  value  of  the  material  arises  from  its  func- 
tion as  a  circulating  medium  ;  and  even  the  value  of  gold 
and  silver  as  used  in  the  arts  and  sciences  will  be  largely 
determined  by  the  demand  for  them  for  money  purposes. 
Of  recent  years  the  general  demonetization  of  silver  by  the 
principal  nations  has  depreciated  the  value  of  that  metal 
about  one-half,  and  there  is  but  little  doubt  that  if  gold 
were  similarly  demonetized  it  would  correspondingly 
decline  in  value.  This  was  the  opinion  of  Cernuschi.  He 
says:  "If  all  nations  should  demonetize  gold  it  would  be 
worth  more  than  copper,  but  it  would  not  be  worth  much 
more." 

Appleton's  American  Encyclopedia  (XI,  p.  735)  says  : 
"After  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  Austria,  the 
Netherlands,  Belgium  and  Germany  all  demonetized  gold 
and  adopted  silver  as  the  legal  tender  at  a  fixed  rate.  In 
those  countries  gold  only  circulated  as  a  commodity,  sub- 
ject to  daily  fluctuations  in  value ;  and  as  a  consequence, 
deprived  as  it  was  of  legal  support  as  money,  it  was  but 
little  used." 

Upon  the  subject  of  intrinsic  value  the  following  author- 
ities are  cited  : 

"Congress  shall  have  power  to  coin  money  and  regulate 
the  value  thereof." — Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"To  coin  money  and  regulate  the  value  thereof  as  an 
act  of  sovereignty  involves  the  right  to  determine  what 
shall  be  taken  and  received  as  money;  at  what  measure 
or  price  it  shall  be  taken  ;  and  what  shall  be  its  effect 
when  passed  or  tendered  in  payment  or  satisfaction  of  legal 
obligations.  Government  can  give  to  its  stamp  upon 
leather  the  same  money  value  as  if  put  upon  gold  or  silver 
or  any  other  material.  The  authority  which  coins  or 
stamps  itself  upon  the  article  can  select  what  substance  it 
may  deem  suitable  to  receive  the  stamp  and  pass  as  money  ; 
and  it  can  affix  what  value  it  deems  proper,  independent  of 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MO.VEY.  207 

the  intrinsic  value  of  the  substance  upon  which  it  is 
affixed.  The  currency  value  is  in  the  stamp,  when  used  as 
money,  and  not  in  the  material  independent  of  the  stamp. 
In  other  words,  the  MONEY  QUALITY  is  the  authority  which 
makes  it  current  and  gives  it  power  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  created." — Tiffany,  Constitutional 
Law, 

"  Whatever  power  is  over  the  currency  is  vested  in  Con- 
gress. If  the  power  to  declare  what  is  money  is  not  in 
Congress,  it  is  annihilated.  .  .  .  We  repeat,  money  is  not  a 
substance,  but  an  impression  of  legal  authority,  a  printed 
legal  decree." — U.  S.  Supreme  Court  (12  Wai/ace,  p.  5/p). 

"The  gold  dollar  is  not  a  commodity  having  an  intrinsic 
value,  but  money  having  only  a  statutory  value  ;  and  every 
dollar  has  the  same  value  without  regard  to  the  material. 
The  gold  dollar  has  not  intrinsic  value." — Supreme  Court 
of  Iowa  (16  Iowa  Rep.,  p.  246}. 

"Money  is  the  medium  of  exchange.  Whatever  per- 
forms this  function,  does  the  work,  is  money,  no  matter 
what  it  is  made  of." — Walker,  Political  Economy. 

"An  article  is  determined  to  be  money  by  reason  of  the 
performance  by  it  of  certain  functions,  without  regard  to 
its  form  or  substance." — Appleton's  Encyclopedia. 

"  Money  is  a  value  created  by  law.  Its  basis  is  legal, 
and  not  material.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  easy  to  convince 
one  that  the  value  of  metallic  money  is  created  by  law.  It 
is,  however,  a  fact." — Cernuschi. 

Specie  Basis. 

Where  paper  money  is  made  redeemable  in  gold  or  silver 
the  paper  money  is  said  to  rest  on  a  "specie  basis."  This 
monetary  scheme  now  prevails  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  In  almost  every  commercial  nation  a  large  portion 
of  the  currency  in  use  is  paper  money,  convertible  in  theory, 
at  least,  into  metallic  money,  at  the  option  of  the  holder. 
This  financial  system  is  framed  upon  the  violent  hypothesis 
that  real  money  can  only  be  made  of  the  precious  metals 
and  that  paper  bills  are  not  money,  but  only  represent- 
atives oi  money.  Those  who  are  addicted  to  this. theory 


288  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

are  in  the  habit  of  designating  coins  made  of  the  precious 
metals  as  "primary  money,"  "redemption  money"  or 
"standard  money;"  while  paper  bills  are  called  "second- 
ary money,"  or  "credit  money,"  and  are  worthless  except 
as  they  may  be  redeemed  in  "primary  money."  The 
specie  basis  may  be  gold  or  silver  or  both.  Since  the 
world-wide  demonetization  of  silver  gold  only  is  the  basis 
in  the  leading  nations  of  the  earth. 

The  specie  basis  theory  is  open  to  the  following  weighty 
objections : 

1.  It  is  contrary  to  the  fundamental  law  of  the  United 
States — the  Constitution. 

Judge  Tiffany,  in  his  work  on  Constitutional  Law, 
expounding  the  right  of  Congress  "to  coin  money  and 
regulate  the  value  thereof,"  says: 

"The  authority  which  coins  or  stamps  itself  upon  the 
article  can  select  what  substance  it  may  deem  suitable  to 
receive  the  stamp  and  pass  as  money ;  and  it  can  affix 
what  value  it  deems  proper,  independent  of  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  substance  upon  which  it  is  affixed." 

This  learned  opinion,  which  annihilates  all  necessary 
distinction  between  "primary"  and  "secondary"  money, 
was  followed  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the 
celebrated  Greenback  cases,  and  hence  has  all  the  authority 
of  law.  (See  12  Wallace's  Reports,  p.  519.) 

2.  The  specie  basis  theory  is  contrary  to  the  facts  of 
history,  some  of  which  will  be  recited  in  succeeding  pages. 
Many  instances  are  recorded   in  which  paper  and  other 
material  have  been  successfully  used  as  money  where  no 
redemption  in  coin  was  promised  or  possible. 

3.  The   specie    basis    theory  postulates   that  a  certain 
amount  of   "redemption   money"   will  support  or  float  a 
proportional   amount  of   "credit  money;"    as   the  specie 
increases  the  paper  money  may  be  safely  increased ;   and 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY.  289 

as  the  specie  decreases  paper  money  must  also  be 
decreased — a  philosophy  that  would  lead  to  the  absurd 
conclusion  that  when  all  specie  disappears  the  people  can 
have  no  money  of  any  kind.  Mr.  R.  H.  Patterson,  a 
distinguished  English  economist,  truly  puts  the  paradox 
as  follows  : 

"The  gospel  of  monetary  science  now  is,  that  when  a 
country  does  not  want  paper  money,  it  ought  to  have  a 
great  supply  of  it ;  and  when  it  does  require  paper  money 
it  shall  have  none.  When  a  country  has  enough  of  specie 
it  ought  to  double  its  currency  by  issuing  an  equal  amount 
of  bank  notes  ;  and  when  there  is  no  specie  there  should 
likewise  be  no  notes.  Is  it  necessary  to  discuss  such  a 
theory?  In  order  to  be  rejected  it  needs  only  to  be  stated  ; 
in  order  to  be  rejected  it  only  needs  to  be  understood.  It 
is  a  theoretical  monstrosity  against  which  common  sense 
revolts — a  burlesque  of  reason  which  even  the  present 
generation  will  live  to  laugh  at." 

4.  The   specie  basis  is  insufficient  in  volume  to  redeem 
the  credit   money  which  is  necessarily  used  in  business. 
The  entire  circulating   medium   of  the  United  States  is, 
approximately,    sixteen    hundred    millions    of    dollars,    of 
which  about  one-third   is  gold,  one-third  silver  and  one- 
third  paper.      Since  silver  was  demonetized  it  is  now  only 
credit  money;  hence  we  have  but  one  dollar  of  redemption 
money  (gold)  with  which  to  redeem  two  of  credit  money, 
or,    taking    into    consideration,    as   we    should,    the   vast 
volume  of  checks,   drafts  and   other  credits    which    must 
finally  be  redeemed  in  gold,  it  is  perfectly  apparent  that 
the  United  States  has  not  one  dollar  of  redemption  money 
with  which  to  redeem  one  hundred  dollars  of  credit — and 
thus  the  whole   theory  of    redemption    becomes    a    mere 
figment  incapable  of  practical  realization.     And  what  is 
true  of  the  United  States  is  true  of  all  other  countries. 

5.  The  specie  basis  is  a  breeder  of  panics.      In  timei  of 
prosperity  and  confidence  credits   are  safely  increased  to 


290 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


accommodate  the  increasing  volume  of  business,  and  the 
specie  basis  is  sufficient  merely  because  it  is  not  put  to  the 
test,  the  people  preferring  paper  money  because  of  its 
superior  convenience.  But  at  such  a  time  a  pebble  ma}' 
start  an  avalanche.  A  startling  failure  occurs  somewhere, 
creditors  press  for  liquidation,  the  banks  are  besieged,  and, 
being  unable  to  redeem  their  promises  to  pay  gold,  they 
suspend — and  the  panic  is  complete.  Such  is  the  recur- 
rent history  of  finance  in  all  civilized  lands. 

Charles  Sears,  an  eminent  authority,  says  of  the  gold 
basis: 

"Within  the  last  fifty  years,  say,  a  money  crisis  has 
come  quite  regularly  every  ten  years.  Something — any 
one  of  a  dozen  causes,  few  know  what — sets  gold  to  flowing 
out.  Fifty  millions  withdrawn  in  a  short  time  from  its 
usual  place  of  deposit  is  quite  sufficient  to  make  the  whole 
volume  of  coin  disappear  from  ordinary  circulation  as  com- 
pletely as  if  it  had  never  existed.  The  metallic  basis  is 
gone — slipped  out  ;  the  pivot  of  the  system  is  dislocated  ; 
somebody  wanted  it  and  took  it,  and  the  pyramid  tumbles 
down,  burying  in  its  ruins  three-fourths  of.  a  business 
generation." 

To  the  same  effect  is  the  opinion  of  the  famous  American 
jurist,  Judge  Walker.  He  says  : 

"The  whole  paper  scheme  is  founded  on  the  presump- 
tion that  the  holders  of  these  bills  will  not  generally  ask 
for  specie  at  the  same  time  ;  and,  therefore,  the  amount  of 
specie  kept  in  reserve  bears  but  a  small  proportion  to  the 
notes  in  circulation.  And  this  is  the  great  evil  of  the 
system.  A  general  and  simultaneous  demand  for  specie 
cannot  possibly  be  met,  and  disaster  must  follow.  To 
enforce  a  universal  performance  of  these  promises  is  to 
insure  their  being  broken.  Every  sudden  panic,  therefore, 
must  produce  wide-spread  calamity." — Walker's  American 
Law,  p.  152. 

6.  The  specie  basis  affords  a  means  by  which  greedy 
speculators  work  "a  corner"  in  gold  and  thus  extort  large 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY.  291 

sums  in  profits  which  the  people  eventually  have  to  pay. 
The  laws  and  official  rulings,  for  instance,  which  require 
the  maintenance  of  a  gold  reserve  in  the  Federal  treasury 
and  the  payment  of  duties  and  interest  on  the  public  debt 
in  gold,  create  a  special  and  imperative  demand  for  the 
yellow  metal ;  and  as  the  supply  for  that  kind  of  money  is 
almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  a  few  great  banking  firms, 
the  latter  can,  at  their  pleasure,  extort  such  terms  as  they 
please  when  applied  to  for  gold.  An  instance  of  the  kind 
occurred  on  Feb.  8,  1895.  On  that  day,  in  order  to  main- 
tain its  gold  reserve,  the  United  States  government 
purchased  of  M.  Rothschild  &  Sons  and  J.  P.  Morgan  & 
Co.,  bankers  of  London,  3, 500,000 ounces  of  standard  gold 
coin  of  the  United  States  at  the  rate  of  $17.80441  per 
ounce,  and  paid  for  it  in  United  States  four  per  cent, 
thirty-year  coupon  or  registered  bonds,  interest  payable 
quarterly.  These  bonds  were  taken  by  the  British  bankers 
at  $1.04,  and  were  sold  by  them  within  ten  days  at  $1.18, 
by  which  the  foreign  gold  exploiters  made  a  net  profit  of 
about  eight  million  dollars — to  be  eventually  paid  by  the 
people. 

7.  The  specie  basis  must  inevitably  become  more  and 
more  insufficient  with  the  lapse  of  time,  and  the  disasters 
due  to  it  in  the  past  become  more  frequent  and  distressing. 
The  population  of  the  world  is  increasing,  barbarous 
nations  are  becoming  commercial,  and  commercial  nations 
are  extending  their  commerce  with  unexampled  rapidit)' 
from  year  to  year.  With  this  increasing  business  must 
come  a  necessity  for  a  corresponding  increase  in  the 
medium  of  exchange — money.  But  no  material  increase 
of  the  precious  metals  is  possible.  On  the  contrary,  as  the 
mines  successively  become  exhausted,  or  deeper  and  more 
difficult  to  work,  it  is  clear  that  the  annual  supply  of  gold 
and  silver  must  become  increasingly  insufficient  to  replace 


2Q2 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


that  which  has  been  lost  or  consumed  in  the  arts  and 
sciences ;  and  hence  the  difficulties  of  the  specie  basis  will 
of  necessity  become  more  and  more  aggravated  as  time 
goes  on. 

Considerations  such  as  the  foregoing  have  led  to  the 
rapid  development  of  a  new  school  of  finance  which,  reject- 
ing the  specie  basis  as  antiquated  and  no  longer  tenable, 
professes  to  find  a  sufficient  guarantee  for  the  stability  of 
money  in 

The  Legal  Tender  Basis. 
President  Grant  said : 

"My  own  judgment  is  that  a  specie  basis  cannot  be 
reached  and  maintained  until  our  exports  exclusive  of  gold 
pay  for  our  imports,  interest  due  abroad,  and  other  specie 
obligations,  or  so  nearly  as  to  le'ave  an  appreciable  accumu- 
lation of  the  precious  metals  in  the  country  from  the 
product  of  our  mines. " — Message,  Dec.  I,  1873. 

Plentiful  experience  has  demonstrated  that  a  paper 
money  based  upon  the  authority,  faith  and  credit  of  the 
government  and  made  by  law  a  full  legal  tender  for  all 
debts  will  serve  all  the  purposes  of  a  staple  circulating 
medium  as  effectually  as  gold  itself. 

The  effectiveness  of  legal-tender  paper  depends  upon 
two  circumstances : 

1.  Government  can  by  law  compel  the  people  to  take 
it  in  satisfaction  of  private   debts,  by  refusing  to  enforce 
contracts  payable  in  any  other  kind  of  money. 

2.  The  government  may  receive  such  legal-tender  paper 
in  satisfaction  of  all  kinds  of  taxes  and  duties,  thus  giving 
such  money  a  positive  value  equal  to  gold. 

The  United  States  Supreme  Court,  in  the  celebrated 
Greenback  cases,  says : 

"Making  these  notes  legal  tender  gave  them  new  uses 
(or  functions'),  and  it  requires  no  argument  to  prove  the 


THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY.  293 

value  of  things  as  in  proportion  to  the  uses  to  which  they 
may  be  applied." — 12  Wallace  Reports,  p.  519. 

Benjamin  Franklin,  defending  the  Pennsylvania  colonial 
paper  money  before  a  committee  of  the  English  Par- 
liament, in  1764,  said: 

''On  the  whole  no  method  has  hitherto  been  found  to 
establish  a  medium  of  trade,  in  lieu  of  coin,  equal  in  all 
its  advantages  to  bills  of  credit  founded  on  sufficient  taxes 
for  discharging  it  at  the  end  of  the  time,  and  in  the  mean- 
time made  a  geneYal  legal  tender." 

Thomas  Jefferson,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Epps,  said  of 
government  paper  money: 

"It  is  the  only  resource  which  can  never  fail  them,  and 
it  is  an  abundant  one  for  every  necessary  purpose. 
Treasury  bills,  bottomed  on  taxes,  bearing  or  not  bearing 
interest,  as  may  be  found  necessary,  thrown  into  circula- 
tion, will  take  the  place  of  so  much  gold  or  silver." 

President  Jackson,  in  his  message,  1829,  said: 

"I  submit  to  the  wisdom  of  the  legislature  whether  a 
national  one  [currency]  founded  on  the  credit  of  the 
government  and  its  resources  might  not  be  devised." 

John  C.  Calhoun,  in  a  speech  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  December  18,  1837,  said: 

"  It  appears  to  me,  after  bestowing  the  best  reflection  I 
can  give  the  subject,  that  no  convertible  paper — that  no 
paper  that  rests  upon  a  promise  to  pay — is  suitable  for  a 
currency.  It  is  the  form  of  credit  paper  in  transactions 
between  men,  but  not  for  a  standard  of  value  to  perform 
exchanges  generally,  which  constitutes  the  appropriate 
functions  of  money  or  currency.  No  one  can  doubt  but 
that  the  credit  of  the  government  is  better  than  that  of  any 
bank — more  staple  and  safe.  I  now  undertake  to  affirm,  and 
without  the  least  fear  that  I  can  be  answered,  that  paper 
money  issued  by  the  government,  to  receive  it  for  all  dues, 
would  form  a  perfect  circulation  which  would  not  be  abused 
by  the  government ;  that  it  would  be  uniform  with  the 
metals  themselves." 

Legal-tender  paper  money  is  usually  issued  in  times  of 


2Q4  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

war,  when  gold  and  silver  are  horded  or  exported  from  the 
country;  and,  as  a  consequence,  such  legal  tender  is  put 
to  the  severest  possible  tests,  those  of  an  imperilled  gov- 
ernment, disturbed  industry  and  impeded  foreign  trade. 
Nevertheless,  history  abounds  with  instances  to  prove  the 
entire  sufficiency  of  this  kind  of  money. 

In  1156  the  Republic  of  Venice  established  a  system  of 
paper  credits  which  served  as  the  principal  circulating 
medium  of  that  country  until  1797.  This  money  was 
always  at  par  and  frequently  at  a  premium.  In  1770  the 
Russian  government  issued  its  own  notes,  which  sustained 
the  government  through  two  wars  and  commanded  a 
premium  over  coin.  In  1797  to  1823  England  issued 
$225,000,000  full  legal-tender  paper  with  which  to  carry 
on  war  against  Napoleon.  In  his  "Political  Economy," 
John  S.  Mill  says  of  these  notes :  "After  they  were  made 
a  legal  tender  they  never  depreciated  a  particle." 

During  the  colonial  period  of  American  history  several 
of  the  colonies  issued  and  successfully  maintained  legal- 
tender  paper  money.  One  instance  is  illustrative  of  them 
all.  In  1739  Pennsylvania  issued  $400,000  in  legal-tender 
paper  not  redeemable  in  coin,  but  receivable  for  taxes, 
which  was  loaned  directly  to  the  people  on  security  of 
land  and  plate.  This  money  continued  in  circulation  until 
it  was  prohibited  by  the  British  government  in  1775. 
Commenting  on  the  success  of  this  system,  Dr.  Franklin 
said:  "Between  the  years  1740  and  1775,  while  abund- 
ance reigned  in  Pennsylvania  and  there  was  peace  in  all 
her  borders,  a  more  happy  and  prosperous  population 
could  not,  perhaps,  be  found  on  this  globe." 

During  the  Franco-German  war  France  issued  an  enor- 
mous volume  of  legal-tender  paper  money,  of  which  Victor 
Bonnet,  the  eminent  French  economist,  says:  "In  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  ever  befell  a  nation, 


THE   PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY. 


295 


with  an  enormous  ransom  to  pay  a  foreign  nation,  and 
with  great  domestic  losses  to  repair,  a  credit  circulation 
was  maintained  four  times  as  large  as  its  base,  without 
depreciation.  This  circulation  reached  $600,000,000." 

During  the  war  of  the  rebellion  in  the  United  States 
(1861-5)  the  government  issued  a  volume  of  legal-tender 
"greenbacks"  which,  on  July  1st,  1865,  was  outstanding 
to  the  amount  of  $432,687,966. 

The  first  $60,000,000  of  this  paper  money,  issued  under 
authority  of  the  acts  of  July  i7th  and  August  5th,  1861, 
and  February  lath,  1862,  called  "demand  notes,"  was 
made  a  full  legal  tender  for  all  debts  public  and  private. 
This  issue  never  fell  below  and  often  was  above  par  as 
compared  with  gold.  In  a  speech  delivered  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  July  4th,  1862,  Hon.  John  Sherman  said  of 
these  "demand  notes": 

"The  notes  are  now  held  and  hoarded.  The  first  issue 
of  $60,000,000  were  issued  with  the  right  of  being  con- 
verted into  six  per  cent,  twenty-year  bonds  and  with  the 
privilege  of  being  paid  for  duties  in  customs.  They  are 
now  far  above  par  and  hoarded." 

In  Schuckers'  Life  of  Salmon  P.  Chase,  p.  225,  the 
author  says : 

"The  demand  notes,  being  receivable  for  customs  the 
same  as  coin,  kept  pace  with  the  advance  in  the  price  of 
coin." 

All  of  the  greenbacks  except  the  first  $60,000,000  were 
purposely  depreciated  by  the  "exception  clause;"  that  is, 
they  were  made  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  public  and 
private,  except  duties  on  imports  and  interest  on  the  public 
debt,  which  latter  were  required  to  be  paid  in  coin.  This 
exception  clause  created  a  special  demand  for  coin,  and  as 
a  consequence  metallic  money  rose  to  a  great  premium,  at 
one  time  (July,  1864)  being  at  a  premium  of  $2.85  in 
greenbacks  to  $i  in  coin.  That  these  greenbacks  were 


296  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

purposely  depreciated  stands  upon  the  evidence  of  Hon. 
John  Sherman,  who,  in  a  report  as  chairman  of  the  Senate 
Finance  Committee,  made  on  the  I2th  of  November,  1867, 
said:  "But  it  was  found  that  with  such  a  restriction  upon 
the  notes  the  bonds  could  not  be  negotiated,  and  it  became 
necessary  to  depreciate  the  notes  in  order  to  make  a 
market  for  the  bonds." 

Speaking  of  the  amendment  by  which  the  "exception 
clause"  was  passed,  Hon.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  said  in  a 
speech  delivered  in  the  House,  February  2oth,  1862: 

"  It  has  all  the  bad  qiialities  that  its  enemies  charged  in 
the  original  bill  and  none  of  its  benefits.  It  now  creates 
money  and  by  its  very  terms  declares  it  a  depreciated  cur- 
rency. It  makes  two  classes  of  money — one  for  the  banks 
and  brokers,  and  another  for  the  people.  It  discriminates 
between  the  rights  of  different  classes  of  creditors,  allowing 
the  rich  capitalists  to  demand  gold,  and  compelling  the 
ordinary  lender  of  money  on  individual  security  to  receive 
notes  which  the  government  had  purposely  discredited. 
.  .  .  .  But  now  comes  the  main  clause.  All  classes  of 
people  shall  take  these  notes  at  par  for  every  article  of 
trade  or  contract  unless  they  have  money  enough  to  buy 
United  States  bonds,  and  then  they  shall  be  paid  in  gold. 
Who  is  that  favored  class?  The  bankers  and  brokers,  and 
nobody  else." 

This  conspiracy  of  the  lawmakers,  by  which  the  soldier 
in  the  field  was  paid  in  depreciated  greenbacks  while  the 
Wall  Street  usurer  received  gold,  did  not  deprive  the  paper 
money  of  its  splendid  functions.  While  coin  rose  to  a 
great  premium,  owing  to  the  special  use  made  of  it  in 
payment  of  customs  and  interest  on  the  public  debt,  the 
legal-tender  money  carried  on  the  great  war  and  conducted 
the  business  of  the  most  prolific  and  prosperous  epoch  in 
the  history  of  the  United  States. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  greenbacks,  discredited  by  legis- 
lation as  they  were,  did  not  depreciate  in  comparison  with 


THE  PHILOSOPHY    OF  MONEY. 


297 


commodities,  but  gold  appreciated  owing  to  the  special 
demand  created  for  it  by  law.  The  people  never  lost 
confidence  in  the  government  paper  money,  even  in  the 
darkest  hours  of  the  panic  of  1873,  as  shown  by  the 
language  of  President  Grant.  He  said  : 

"The  experience  of  the  present  panic  has  proven  that 
the  currency  of  the  country,  based,  as  it  is,  upon  the 
credit  of  the  country,  is  the  best  that  has  ever  been  devised. 
Usually,  in  times  of  such  trials,  currency  has  become 
worthless  or  so  much  depreciated  in  value  as  to  inflate  the 
values  of  all  necessaries  of  life  as  compared  with  currency. 
Every  one  holding  it  has  been  anxious  to  dispose  of  it  on 
any  terms.  Now  we  witness  the  reverse.  Holders  of 
currency  hoard  it  as  they  did  gold  in  former  experiences  of 
like  nature." — Message,  December  I,  1873. 

The  Functions  of  Money. 

The  functions  or  uses  of  money  are  three-fold : 

It  is  a  measure  of  value. 

It  is  a  medium  of  exchange. 

It  is  a  means  of  storing  wealth. 

As  a  measure  of  value  money  determines  in  what  propor- 
tion commodities  and  services  shall  be  interchanged.  The 
yardstick  measures  the  quantity  of  fabrics ;  but  some 
fabrics  are  more  valuable  than  others.  A  bolt  of  silk,  for 
instance,  is  more  valuable  than  a  bolt  of  muslin — a  differ- 
ence which  the  yardstick,  alone,  cannot  indicate  ;  it  merely 
measures  quantities,  not  values.  Here  the  money  measure 
becomes  necessary.  The  abstract  unit  which  we  call  a 
dollar  measures  the  values  of  both  silk  and  muslin,  and 
determines  how  many  yards  of  muslin  should  be  exchanged 
for  a  yard  of  silk. 

Money  is  a  medium  of  exchange.  Smith  has  a  horse  and 
buggy  which  he  wishes  to  exchange  for  a  piano  belonging 
to  Brown.  Brown  is  willing  to  part  with  the  piano,  but 
does  not  want  a  horse  and  buggy  ;  he  does  want,  however, 


2g8  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

a  gold  watch.  Jones  has  such  a  watch,  but  wants  to  dis- 
pose of  it  for  clothing.  Wilson  has  clothing,  but  he  wants 
coal.  For  these  four  parties  to  find  out  each  other's 
wants  and  effect  an  exchange  of  actual  commodities  and 
adjust  the  difference  in  value  between  the  articles  would 
involve  time  and  labor  and  make  so  many  difficulties  that 
the  transactions  would  be  greatly  delayed,  if  not  defeated. 
Here  money  performs  its  beneficent  offices  as  a  medium  of 
exchange.  Smith  sells  his  horse  and  buggy  for  money, 
and  with  it  purchases  Brown's  piano.  Brown  buys  the 
watch  he  wants,  and  thus  money  goes  from  hand  to  hand, 
effecting  innumerable  exchanges,  not  only  in  the  small 
neighborhood,  but  in  great  commercial  circles,  thereby 
bringing  the  antipodes  together  and  enabling  them  to  sup- 
ply each  other's  wants  with  the  least  possible  loss  of  time 
and  labor. 

Money  is,  also,  a  means  of  storing  wealth.  Jackson  has  a 
valuable  farm,  but  is  getting  too  old  or  infirm  in  health  to 
work  it.  He  might  exchange  it  for  a  great  quantity  of 
food,  clothing,  and  other  necessaries  sufficient  to  last  him 
the  remainder  of  his  life ;  but  these  articles  could  not 
safely  be  stored  so  as  to  preserve  them  for  future  years, 
and  some  representative,  that  can  be  stored,  must  be 
found.  Money  is  that  representative.  Jackson  sells  his 
farm  for  money,  and  with  the  money  purchases  from  time 
to  time  the  necessaries  required. 

From  a  brief  study  of  these  three  great  functions  per- 
formed by  money  may  be  readily  determined  what  should 
be  the  characteristics  of  a  perfect  currency,  one  that  would 
most  effectually  and  justly  serve  mankind. 

As  a  measure  of  values  and  as  a  means  of  storing  wealth 
it  is  clear  that  money  ought  to  be  stable,  that  is,  it  should 
as  nearly  as  possible  have  the  same  purchasing  power  from 
year  to  year  and  in  all  sections  of  the  country;  for  when 


THE   PHILOSOPHY  Of-'  MONEY.  299 

money  fluctuates  in  purchasing  power  it  is  obvious  that 
some  men  will  gain  and  some  will  lose  without  any  merit 
or  fault  upon  their  part,  but  simply  in  consequence  of  the 
fluctuations  in  the  value  of  money.  This  is  particularly 
true  in  case  of  debt,  for  if  a  debt  be  contracted  when 
money  is  cheap,  and  paid  when  money  is  dear,  the  debtor 
will  evidently  lose  by  the  change,  and  if  the  circumstances 
be  reversed  the  creditor  will  lose. 

To  secure  such  stability  or  uniformity  of  purchasing 
power  no  measure  or  method  is  so  effectual  as  for  the 
government  to  make  all  its  money  a  full  legal  tender  for 
all  debts,  public  and  private. 

As  a  medium  of  exchange  the  volume  or  quantity  of 
money  in  circulation  should  be  sufficiently  large  to  accom- 
plish the  transaction  of  business  without  waste  or  delay. 
In  estimating  the  necessary  volume  it  is  proper  to  take 
into  consideration  the  numbers  of  population,  the  magni- 
tude of  business  transacted,  and,  since  a  nimble  dollar  will 
perform  the  work  of  several  slow  ones,  the  "effectiveness" 
or  rapidity  with  which  money  circulates  ;  and,  since  popula- 
tion and  business  are,  upon  the  whole,  constantly  increasing, 
and  the  rapidity  of  circulation  (until  some  swifter  method 
of  locomotion  be  discovered)  remains  unaltered,  the 
volume  of  money,  clearly,  ought  to  be  increased  from  year 
to  year.  Few  who  have  not  patiently  studied  the  prob- 
lems of  finance  understand  the  mighty  effects  of  an 
expansion  or  contraction  of  the  money  volume  upon,  not 
only  the  material,  but  the  moral  well-being  of  mankind. 

The  very  heart    of    the   complex  money   question,    the 
center  of  all  its  divergent  issues,  is  the  question  of 
The  Volume  of  Money. 

The  volume  or  quantity  of  money  in  circulation  is 
always  hard  to  determine,  principally  because  banks, 
brokers  and  their  allies  in  official  and  journalistic  positions 


300 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


are  generally  interested  in  concealing  or  misstating  the 
facts  on  purpose  to  mislead  the  public;  so  that,  not 
infrequently,  a  period  of  financial  disaster  steals  upon  the 
people  unaware  and  they  are  compelled  to  endure  all  the 
miseries  of  such  an  event  without  being  able  to  detect  the 
cause  or  apply  the  remedy.  In  such  circumstances  the 
masses  may  dimly  perceive  that  they  are  being  robbed, 
yet,  unable  to  detect  the  means  of  their  spoliation,  they 
attribute  it  to  every  cause  but  the  real  one,  and  thus  the 
spoliators  are  enabled  to  repeat  their  robbery  again  and 
again,  undetected  by  any  save  a  few  whose  complaints  are 
regarded  as  the  extravagances  of  uninformed  or  fanatic 
minds. 

To  fully  comprehend  how  the  exploiters  of  money  may 
enrich  themselves  and  impoverish  others  by  merely 
manipulating  the  currency,  it  is  necessary  to  understand 
the  primary' fact  that  an  increasing  -volume  of  money  brings 
rising  prices  and  business  activity,  while  a  diminishing  volume 
of  money  causes  falling  prices  and  business  stagnation.  Upon 
this  proposition  the  following  authorities  are  cited : 

David  Hume,  the  English  historian,  in  his  essay  on 
"Money,"  says : 

"We  find  that  in  every  kingdom  into  which  money 
begins  to  flow  in  greater  abundance  than  formerly,  every- 
thing takes  a  new  face;  labor  and  industry  gain  new  life, 
the  merchants  become  more  enterprising,  the  manufac- 
turers more  diligent  and  skillful,  and  the  farmer  follows 
his  plow  with  greater  attention  and  alacrity.  The  good 
policy  of  the  government  consists  of  keeping  it,  if  possible, 
still  increasing  as  long  as  there  is  an  undeveloped  resource 
or  room  for  a  new  immigrant,  because  by  that  means  there 
is  kept  alive  a  spirit  of  industry  in  the  nation  which 
increases  the  stock  of  labor,  in  which  consists  all  real 
power  and  riches.  A  nation  whose  money  decreases  is 
actually  weaker  and  more  miserable  than  other  nations 


THE  PHILOSOPHY   OF  MONEY.  301 

which  possess  less  money  but  are  on  the  increasing 
hand." — Essays  and  Treatises,  vol.  I,  p.  283. 

Henri  Cernuschi,  an  ex-banker  of  Paris,  and  recognized 
as,  perhaps,  the  most  eminent  of  the  French  writers  on 
finance,  says : 

"The  value  of  money  depends  upon  its  quantity.  It  is 
the  same  with  gold  as  with  greenbacks.  If  the  stock  in 
circulation  is  augmented  the  purchasing  power  of  every 
greenback  is  diminished;  and  so  with  gold  and  silver. 
The  purchasing  power  is  always  in  relation  to  the  quantity 
of  the  money." — Nomisma,  p.  15. 

"That  commodities  would  rise  and  fall  in  price  in  pro- 
portion to  the  increase  or  diminution  of  money  I  assume 
as  a  fact  that  is  incontrovertible.  That  such  would  be  the 
case  the  most  celebrated  writers  on  political  economy  are 
agreed. " — Ricardo,  Political  Economy. 

<s  If  the  whole  money  in  circulation  was  doubled  prices 
would  double.  If  it  was  only  increased  one-fourth,  prices 
would  rise  one-fourth.  The  very  same  effect  would  be 
produced  on  prices  if  we  suppose  the  goods  (the  uses  for 
money)  diminished  instead  of  the  money  increased ;  and 
the  contrary  effect  if  the  goods  were  increased  or  the 
money  diminished.  So  that  the  value  of  money,  all  other 
things  remaining  the  same,  varies  inversely  as  its  quantity  ; 
every  increase  in  quantity  lowering  its  value  and  every 
diminution  raising  it  in  a  ratio  exactly  equivalent." — J.  S. 
Mill,  Principles  of  Political  Economy. 

Win.  H.  Crawford,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  his 
report,  February,  1820,  says: 

"All  intelligent  writers  on  currency  agree  that  when  it 
[money]  is  decreasing  in  amount  poverty  and  misery  must 
prevail." 

By  joint  resolution  of  the  United  States  Congress,  August 
i5th,  1876,  a  "United  States  Monetary  Commission"  was 
appointed  to  inquire  into  the  prevailing  "hard  times."  It 
consisted  of  Senators  John  P.  Jones,  Lewis  V.  Bogy  and 
George  S.  Boutwell,  and  Congressmen  Randall  L.  Gibson, 
George  Willard  and  Richard  P.  Bland  ;  to  whom  were 


302 


PRESEN'I'  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


added  Hon.  Wm.  S.  Groesbeck  of  Ohio,  Prof.  Francis 
Bowen  of  Massachusetts,  and  Geo.  M.  Weston  of  Maine, 
the  three  latter  acting  as  secretaries  of  the  commission. 
On  March  2,  1877,  the  commission  reported.  The  follow- 
ing extracts  are  taken  from  the  report : 

"While  the  volume  of  money  is  decreasing,  though  very 
slowly,  the  value  of  each  unit  of  money  is  increasing  in  a 
corresponding  ratio,  and  property  and  wages  are  decreas- 
ing. Those  who  have  contracted  to  pay  money  find  that 
it  is  constantly  becoming  more  difficult  to  meet  their 
engagements.  The  margins  of  securities  melt  rapidly,  and 
their  confiscation  by  the  creditor  becomes  only  a  question 
of  time.  All  productive  enterprises  are  discouraged  and 
stagnate  because  the  cost  of  producing  commodities  to-day 
will  not  be  covered  by  the  price  obtainable  for  them  to- 
morrow. Exchanges  become  sluggish,  because  those  who 
have  money  will  not  part  with  it  for  either  property  or 
service,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  money  alone  is  increas- 
ing in  value  while  everything  else  is  decreasing  in  price. 
This  results  in  the  withdrawal  of  money  from  the  channels 
of  circulation  and  its  deposit  in  great  hordes  where  it  can 
exert  no  influence  on  prices.  Money  in  shrinking  volume 
becomes  the  paramount  object  of  commerce  instead  of  the 
beneficent  instrument.  Instead  of  mobilizing  industry,  it 
poisons  and  dries  up  its  life  currents.  It  is  the  fruitful 
source  of  political  and  social  disturbance.  It  foments 
strife  between  labor  and  other  forms  of  capital,  while 
itself,  hidden  away,  gorges  on  both.  It  rewards  close- 
fisted  lenders  and  filches  from  and  bankrupts  enterprising 
producers.  An  increasing  value  of  money  and  falling 
prices  have  been  and  are  more  fruitful  of  human  misery 
than  war,  pestilence  or  famine;  they  have  wrought  more 
injustice  than  all  the  bad  laws  ever  enacted." — Report  of 
Untied  States  Monetary  Commission,  vol.  /,  p.  IO  et  seq. 

Pointing  out  how  a  contraction  of  the  money  volume 
increases  the  debt  obligations  of  the  past,  R.  H.  Patterson, 
especially  commended  by  Gladstone  as  one  of  the  ablest 
of  English  writers  on  finance,  says : 

"And  what  is  such  a  dearth  of  money  and  rise  in  the 


7 '///•:  PHILOSOPHY  OF  MONEY. 


303 


measure  of  value  but  an  injustice  to  the  many  to  the  gain 
of  the  few — an  unfair  exaltation  of  the  power  of  the  past 
over  the  present,  an  unfair  and  undesirable  aggravation  of 
the  poverty  of  the  poor  and  the  wealth  of  the  rich — a 
stereotyping  of  classes  according  to  wealth,  until  they  tend 
to  become  permanent?  We  have  seen  how  powerful  and 
beneficial  was  the  influx  of  the  precious  metals  from  the 
New  World  four  centuries  ago  in  breaking  the  social 
bondage  which  had  settled  over  Europe  during  the  long 
night  of  the  Dark  Ages,  enabling  that  generation  to  escape 
from  the  heritage  of  the  past  and  bound  forward  upon  the 
new  career  then  opening  to  mankind.  Such  times  come 
from  the  hand  of  Providence,  and  with  an  exceeding  rarity 
even  in  the  long  career  of  civilized  mankind.  But  at  least 
let  us  avoid  the  opposite  and  never  allow  successive  gen- 
erations to  be  unfairly — nay,  most  unjustly,  though  it  may 
not  be  so  meant — handicapped,  each  in  its  own  race, 
owing  to  a  growing  dearth  and  dearness  of  money." — The 
New  Golden  Age,  vol.  II,  p.  500. 

President  Grant  said  : 

"To  increase  our  exports  sufficient  money  is  required  to 
keep  all  the  industries  of  the  country  employed.  Without 
this,  national  as  well  as  individual  bankruptcy  must 
ensue." — Message,  December  I,  1873. 

Hon.  John  Sherman,  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate,  January 
27,  1869,  said,  in  opposition  to  a  bill  to  contract  the  cur- 
rency by  retiring  the  greenbacks  : 

"  It  is  not  possible  to  take  this  voyage  without  the  sorest 
distress.  To  every  person  except  a  capitalist  out  of  debt, 
or  a  salaried  officer,  or  annuitant,  it  is  a  period  of  loss, 
danger,  lassitude  of  trade,  fall  of  wages,  suspension  of 
enterprise,  bankruptcy  and  disaster.  ...  It  means  the 
ruin  of  all  dealers  whose  debts  are  twice  their  business 
capital,  though  one-third  less  than  their  actual  property. 
It  means  the  fall  of  all  agricultural  productions  without 
any  great  reduction  of  taxes.  When  that  day  comes  every 
man,  as  the  sailor  says,  will.be  close-reefed;  all  enterprise 
will  be  suspended,  every  bank  will  have  contracted  its 
currency  to  the  lowest  limit;  and  the  debtor,  compelled  to 


3°4 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


meet  in  coin  a  debt  contracted  in  currency,  will  find  the 
coin  hoarded  in  the  treasury,  no  representative  of  coin  in 
circulation,  his  property  shrunk  not  only  to  the  extent  of 
the  depreciation  of  the  currency,  but  still  more  by  the 
artificial  scarcity  made  by  the  holders  of  gold.  To  attempt 
this  task  by  a  surprise  upon  our  people,  by  arresting  them 
in  the  midst  of  their  lawful  business  and  applying  a  new 
standard  of  value  to  their  property  without  any  reduction 
of  their  debts,  or  giving  them  an  opportunity  to  compound 
with  their  creditors,  or  to  distribute  their  losses,  would  be 
an  act  of  folly  without  an  example  in  evil  in  modern 
times." — Congressional  Globe,  1869,  p.  629. 

In  a  speech  in  the  United  States  Senate,  March  17, 
1874,  General  John  A.  Logan  pointed  out  the  cause  of  the 
panic  of  1873  as  follows  : 

"But,  sir,  that  the  panic  was  not  due  to  the  character 
of  the  currency  is  proved  by  the  history  of  the  panic 
itself.  .  .  .  No,  sir,  the  panic  was  not  attributable  to  the 
character  of  the  currency,  but  to  a  money  famine,  and  to 
nothing  else.  In  the  very  midst  of  the  panic  we  saw  the 
leading  bankers  and  business  men  of  New  York  pressing 
and  urging  the  President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
to  let  loose  twenty  or  twenty-five  millions  more  of  the 
same  paper  for  their  relief — the  very  same  men  who  to-day 
denounce  it  as  a  disgrace  to  our  government.  It  was  good 
enough  for  them  when  they  were  in  trouble. 

"Why  is  it  that  representatives  forget  the  interests  of 
their  own  section  and  stand  up  here  as  the  advocates  of  the 
gold-brokers  and  money-lenders  and  sharks,  the  same  class 
of  men  whose  tables  Christ  turned  over,  and  whom  he 
lashed  out  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem?  .  .  .  Carry  out  the 
theory  of  the  contractionists,  and  what  must  be  the  inevit- 
able result?  Every  enterprise  and  industry  must  be 
dwarfed  in  like  proportion.  The  busy  hum  of  the  spindle 
will  cease  its  sound  in  many  a  mill  which  now  gives 
employment  to  hundreds  of  active  hands  and  supplies  the 
comforts  of  life  to  many  a  happy  home.  The  bright  blaze 
of  many  an  iron  foundry  which  gives  life  and  cheerfulness 
to  the  grand  scenery  along  the  streams  of  Pennsylvania 
will  cease  to  gild  the  night  with  its  rays.  And  the  same 


THE    PHILOSOPHY   OF  MOXhY. 


3°5 


industry  in  my  own  State,  and  that  of  the  Senator  from 
Missouri,  which  has  been  so  rapidly  increasing  of  late,  will 
be  crippled,  and  hundreds  who  now  find  employment 
there  will  be  compelled  to  seek  a  home  elsewhere  for  want 
of  work.  The  undeveloped  resources  of  the  South  and 
West,  which  we  have  just  begun  to  appreciate,  will  rest  in 
abeyance  until  a  wiser  policy  shall  bring  them  into  use. 
.  .  .  Why,  sir,  the  people  were  never  freer  from  debt  in 
proportion  to  the  business  done  than  in  1865,  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  when  Mr.  McCulloch  began  his  system  of  con- 
traction, and  at  the  very  time  when  eleven  million  more 
people  were  to  be  supplied.  Was  it  to  be  supposed  that 
the  activity  and  energy  which  the  adequate  supply  of  money 
had  put  in  operation,  and  which  was  giving  prosperity  and 
happiness  to  the  country,  would  suddenly  dwarf  itself  to 
suit  financial  notions  without  a  struggle?  The  inevitable 
result  was  an  expedient  to  meet  the  consequent  want,  and 
credit  was  expanded.  At  the  very  moment  above  all  others 
when  adequate  supply  was  needed,  the  opposite  course  was 
adopted ;  and  right  here  lies  the  true  cause  of  the  late 
panic,  which  resulted  from  a  money  famine  and  not  from 
an  excessive  supply.  .  .  .  Sir,  turn  this  matter  as  we  will, 
and  look  at  it  from  any  side  whatever,  and  it  does  present 
the  appearance  of  being  a  stupendous  scheme  of  the  money- 
holders  to  seize  the  opportunity  of  placing  under  their 
control  the  vast  industries  of  the  nation.  Therefore  I  warn 
Senators  against  pushing  too  far  the  great  conflict  now 
going  on  between  capital  and  labor.  .  .  .  Capital  rests 
upon  labor  ;  but  when  it  attempts  to  press  too  heavily  on 
that  which  supports  it  in  a  free  republic,  the  slumbering 
volcano,  whose  mutterings  are  beginning  already  to  be 
heard,  will  burst  forth  with  a  fury  that  no  legislation  will 
quell." 

From  the  foregoing,  which  is  but  a  small  fragment  of 
the  immense  literature  in  harmony  with  the  opinions  cited, 
the  following  conclusions  may  be  digested  : 

i.  A  diminished  volume  of  money  always  causes  a 
proportional  diminution  in  the  price  of  labor  and  com- 


306  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

modities — or,  to  express  it  otherwise,  money  becomes  dear 
and  everything  else  cheap. 

2.  This  redounds  to  the  advantage  of  the  capitalistic 
class,   who   are  thereby  enabled   to  exact  more   for  their 
money  in  services  and  commodities,  to  purchase  all  kinds 
of  stocks  and  properties  at  diminished  rates,  and  to  fore- 
close mortgages  and   collect  other  forms  of  debts  under 
such  conditions  as  to  make   "hard  times"  a  harvest  for 
the  creditor  class. 

3.  The  debtor  class  is  compelled  not  only  to  yield  more 
services  and  commodities  for  the  money  which  it  receives 
or  has  previously  received,  but  suffers  the  further  hardship 
of  languishing  business  and  enforced  idleness  or  diminished 
wages;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that  every  producer 
is  a  debtor,  even  though  he  has  no  specific  obligations 
outstanding;   for  he  will  have  to  aid  those  who  have  such 
obligations    by  receiving    less    prices  and  wages    and    by 
paying  relatively  increased  taxes,  salaries,  rents  and  profits 
to  those  members  of  the  debtor  class  who  are  immediately 
above  him  in  the  social  scale,  and  who  will  seek  to  save 
themselves  by  shifting  the  burden  of  their  obligations  onto 
those  who  are  below. 


III. 

A  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  OF  AMERICAN  FINANCIAL 
HISTORY. 

BV  SAMUEL  LEAVITT, 

Author  of  "•Our  Money   Wars,'"   "Dictator   Grant^   etc. 

"I  am  astonished  at  nothing  in  our  business  life  so  much  as  the 
absence  of  an  earnest,  determined   endeavor  on  the   part   of  our 
men  of  brains  to  find  the  causa  of  these  chronic  crises  and  hard 
times  and  then  set  upon  the  track  of  some  remedy  therefor.  "- 
REV.  HEBER  NEWTON. 

WHAT  may  well  be  called  the  American  system  of 
money  has  been  gradually  evolved,  during  three 
hundred  years,  from  the  bitter  experiences  of  the 
most  practical  people  that  ever  trod  this  globe.  Franklin, 
Jefferson,  Jackson,  Calhoun,  Clay,  Gallatin  and  Benton 
were  its  prophets.  But  it  first  began  to  take  definite  shape 
during  our  civil  war  under  such  men  as  Edward  Kellogg, 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  Henry  C.  Carey,  Stephen  Colwell, 
Pliny  Freeman,  Ben  Wade,  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Henry 
Wilson  and  John  Thompson;  and  later,  Warwick  Martin, 
Peter  Cooper,  Thomas  Ewing,  Wendell  Phillips,  John  E. 
Williams,  George  Opdyke,  John  G.  Drew,  John  P.  Jones, 
William  D.  Kelley,  B.  F.  Butler  and  others. 

What  first  strikes  the  observer  in  a  bird's-eye  view  is 
that  the  whole  modern  movement  toward  a  rational  money 
system  was  started  by  that  much-maligned  genius,  John 
Law,  in  France,  in  1715.  His  system  was  one  of  the  first 
recent  revolts  against  the  tyranny  of  metal  money.  He 
was  the  real  founder  of  the  Bank  of  France  and  the  present 
French  system.  The  Encyclopedia  Britannica  calls  him  an 
"unequaled  financier."  His  great  thought  was  plenty  of 

307 


3o8  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

government  paper  money,  and  France  has  kept  that 
thought.  Law  was  finally  beaten  by  politicians  and  the 
King's  mistresses  when  he  tried  to  improve  his  system. 

Turning  homeward,  we  find  the  first  American  coin 
money,  succeeding  the  wonderfully  useful  wampum,  came 
very  curiously — coin  usually  does.  In  1652  a  mint  was  set 
up  in  Boston  to  coin  silver  into  "pine  tree"  money.  The 
silver  came  mostly  from  the  West  Indian  trade.  Our 
rulers  in  England  then,  as  now,  only  busied  themselves  in 
stealing  from  us  any  good  money  we  could  get  hold  of. 
Singularly  enough  we  depended  largely  then  upon  another 
class  of  pirates — the  buccaneers  of  the  Spanish  main,  who 
spent  most  of  their  plunder  on  our  shores,  where  were 
the  nearest  civilized  ports.  This  was  a  great  blessing — 
"a  blessed  providence" — to  our  Puritan  ancestors  and  the 
coin  money  economists  of  those  days. 

In  1745  we  had  another  blessed  influx  of  silver.  Gov- 
ernor Shirley,  of  Massachusetts,  and  his  pious  Puritans, 
went  over  and  captured  Louisburg,  Cape  Breton,  from  the 
French,  with  fire  and  sword,  and  made  a  big  loot.  This 
so  tickled  Mother  Britain  that,  for  once,  she  sent  us  a  lot 
of  silver  to  "ransom"  Louisburg.  This  enabled  Massa- 
chusetts to  steal  away  the  trade  of  Rhode  Island. 

In  1690  the  first  issue  of  paper  money  was  made  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. This  was  before  the  establishment  of  the  Bank 
of  England.  It  was  for  ^7,000.  In  1703  ^£15,000  was 
issued,  which  was  made  a  legal  tender  for  private  debts. 
In  1716  another  issue  to  the  amount  of  ^£150,000  was 
authorized.  Mark  the  style  of  it,  as  compared  with  the 
wild-cat  projects  of  the  present  Congress,  and  see  which  is 
the  most  reasonable  and  conservative,  and  then  inquire  if 
the  Farmers'  Alliance  plan  is  so  foolish  :  "The  bills  wen- 
to  be  distributed  among  the  different  counties  of  the 
province,  and  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  five  trustees  in 


A.lfERfC.LY  /-y.V./.VCV./A   HISTORY. 


309 

each  county,  to  be  appointed  by  the  legislature,  to  be  let 
out  on  real  estate  security  in  the  county,  in  specific  sums, 
for  the  space  of  ten  years,  at  five  per  cent,  per  annum." 
Another  act  for  ^50,000  in  bills  was  passed  in  1720, 
"which  resulted  in  clearing  Massachuetts  of  debt  in  1773." 

In  1723  Pennsylvania  led  a  number  of  States  in  issuing 
paper  money.  In  this  year  a  great  crisis  occurred  in 
England  and  the  Bank  was  suspended.  The  coin  of  the 
American  colonies  was  required,  and  drawn  over,  in 
England's  selfish  and  peremptory  way,  to  prepare  the  bank 
for  resumption.  All  coin  left  Pennsylvania,  though  the 
State  possessed  laws  raising  its  value.  Then  the  State  issued 
treasury  notes,  and  kept  them  in  use  until  1773,  when 
English  jealousy  caused  Parliament  to  make  all  such  issues 
void.  Some  of  the  money  was  issued,  says  Adam  Smith, 
on  land  security  of  double  the  value,  and  redeemed  in 
fifteen  years.  It  was  made  legal  tender  and  remained  at 
par  with  coin  for  forty  years.  The  necessary  notes  were 
redeemed,  by  their  payment  for  taxes,  without  loss  to  any 
one.  This  is  the  familiar  history  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
statement  of  Franklin.  The  cutting  off  of  this  money  was 
the  chief  cause  of  the  Revolution.  The  tea-party  in  Boston 
harbor  was  only  a  side-show. 

Continental  money  was  issued  by  Congress  when  we  had 
no  government — no  power  to  tax.  Yet  if  made  full  legal 
tender,  with  no  mad  promise  of  coin,  fifty  million  dollars 
might  have  been  enough.  Gallatin  says :  "It  saved  the 
country."  Jefferson:  "It  expired  without  a  groan."  Cal- 
houn  :  "  It  is  the  ghost  conjured  up  by  all  who  wish  to  give 
private  banks  control  of  government  credit."  It  was  used 
in  place  of  a  war  tax,  and  the  people  so  regarded  it. 

French  assignats  broke  the  spell  of  royal  tyranny  in 
Europe.  Such  is  the  power  of  a  live  nation  to  use  and 
absorb  money  that  nine  billion  dollars'  worth  of  it  was 


3io 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


issued  before  it  broke  down.      Even  then  the  cause  of  the 
tumble  was  that  it  had  no  suitable  foundation.      It   was 
founded  on  land  taken  from  the  priests,  and  naturally  fell 
when  that  land  was  returned  to  the  churches. 
Our  Coin  for  a  Century. 

We  come  now  to  the  coin  money  of  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Through  ignorance  of  it,  some  silver  advocates  are  dismayed 
by  the  fact  that  so  little  silver  was  coined  here  before  1878. 
The  great  point  to  be  shown  is  that  we  had  no  need  to 
coin,  because  so  much  came  from  abroad.  The  way  metal 
money  flowed  here  during  the  wars  between  England  and 
Spain  reads  like  a  fairy  story.  The  treasures  of  Mexico 
and  South  America  passed  through  here  and  gave  many 
temporary  and  flitting  coin  deposits.  Then  from  the  open- 
ing of  the  Napoleonic  wars  until  1820  the  most  of  Europe, 
including  England,  was  using  paper  money.  So  coin  came 
and  stayed  here.  In  fact,  coin  stayed  back  in  our  Western 
wilds  often  when  it  was  scarce  in  Eastern  sections  and 
large  cities.  Through  all  smashes  and  wild-cat  times, 
Western  banks  paid  coin  until  1820.  Those  were  good 
times  for  planters  on  new  soil.  The  old  Virginia  planter, 
in  his  blue  swallow-tail  coat  with  brass  buttons,  and  his 
ruffled  shirt,  always  had  a  pile  of  doubloons  in  his  desk. 
He  did  not  know  that  European  war  and  paper  money  put 
them  there. 

The  banks,  warned  by  wild-cat  experiences,  grasped  at 
all  coin  as  they  do  now  at  gold.  One  bank  sucked  all  there 
was  in  North  Carolina  and  owned  the  State.  It  was  so 
plenty  in  the  twenties,  in  New  England,  that  they  shipped 
it  to  Europe. 

A  point  never  to  be  forgotten  by  silver  men,  in  answer  to 
the  gold  man's  statement  about  small  coinage  of  silver,  is 
that  from  the  foundation  of  the  United  States  money  laws 


.  /.I//-; A'/C.-l.V  7-7.\'-/.  VC7.-//.  7//.V TOR  Y.  311 

were  passed  giving  legal  value  to  foreign  coins.  Our 
mistaken  ratio  of  16  to  i,  instead  of  15^  to  i,  made  it 
generally  useless  for  us  to  coin  silver,  when  we  could  have 
plenty  from  abroad  that  was  legal  tender.  One  fact  alone 
shows  how  immensely  we  were  using  our  own  silver  and 
foreign  silver  and  gold — viz.:  the  panic  of  1857  was  largely 
due  to  the  demonetization  of  our  small  silver  and  those 
foreign  coins.  In  1853  Congress  demonetized  all  silver 
halves,  quarters  and  dimes  in  sums  of  over  $5.00.  Much 
of  the  reserves  of  the  banks  was  in  these  fractional  silver 
coins,  which  had  been  full  legal  tender,  and  in  larger  gold 
and  silver  coins  of  the  United  States  and  other  countries. 
The  silver  dollars  of  Spain,  Mexico,  South  America  and 
the  United  States  were  worth  a  premium  over  gold,  and 
were  bought  by  the  Rothschilds  and  sent  out  of  the  coun- 
try, though  they  did  big  service  while  they  stayed  here. 
But  the  banks  did  not  hold  them  as  reserves.  So  the 
demonetization  of  our  small  silver  deprived  the  banks  of  a 
large  portion  of  their  reserves  and  of  paying  their  circula- 
tion therein. 

Up  to  February,  1857,  ail  foreign  gold  coins  and  the 
silver  coins  of  most  nations  were,  in  the  United  States,  full 
legal  tender  with  our  coins  at  the  values  fixed  by  our  laws  ; 
and  gold  being,  since  1834,  overvalued  in  the  United 
States,  immense  quantities  of  these  gold  coins  came  here 
and  remained.  Another  reason  why  we  did  not  coin  silver 
dollars  is  found  in  this  fact :  gold  was  superabundant. 
These  gold  coins  were  also  held  by  the  banks  as  reserves 
in  large  quantities. 

But  on  February  21,  1857,  Congress  demonetized  all 
foreign  coins.  This  took  them  out  of  the  banks.  They 
went  abroad  never  to  return.  And  this  was  one  chief  cause 
of  the  panic  of  1857.  The  facts  above  given,  properly 
circulated,  should  forever  silence  the  quibbles  of  the  gold 


3I2 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


men  about  the  non-use  and  non-coinage  of  silver  up  to 
1878.  From  1861  to  1878  we  used  but  little  coin. 

The  gold  men  sneeriugly  ask  if  we  want  to  go  on  a 
5o-cent  dollar  like  Mexico.  It  is  true  they  have  worked 
their  diabolical  will  on  some  of  those  weak  nations,  where 
the  currency  is  thrown  into  horrible  confusion  thereby,  and 
foreign  business  is  made  almost  impossible  by  the  rise  in 
the  gold  dollar  to  a  $2.00  dollar.  They  have  come  near 
Mexicanizing  us  in  this  respect,  but  have  failed  as  yet. 
Their  plea  for  the  deposits  of  workingmen  in  savings  banks 
is  like  the  howl  the  mortgage  people  are  always  raising 
about  the  poor  widows  and  orphans  of  the  East,  to  whom 
the  Western  farmer  should  willingly  pay  high  interest. 
Wise  nations  legislate  for  producers,  rather  than  for 
interest-suckers — male  or  female. 

United  States  Banks — Wild-Cat  and  State  Banks. 

Ever  since  the  Revolution  there  has  been  war  between 
Jefferson's  treasury  notes  and  the  sharp  fellows  who  wish 
to  collect  interest  on  their  debts.  In  the  lush  wild-cat 
times  bankers  did  not  care  whether  they  made  their  scoop 
by  shoving  out  bank  notes  so  far  that  they  would  hardly 
ever  come  back,  or  lending  interest-bearing  credit  to  their 
neighbors.  Now  the  telegraph,  railroad  and  redemp- 
tion banks  would  make  hard  sledding  for  State  wild- 
cats. 

The  United  States  banks  (private)  were  so  mixed  with 
the  wild-cats  for  fifty  years — 1791  to  1841 — that  they  need 
describing.  The  first,  in  1791,  was  got  up  by  Federals 
who  hated  treasury  notes.  But  fortunately  there  was  much 
honesty  then,  and  it  was  so  managed  that  its  notes  were 
like  full  legal-tender  greenbacks.  Those  were  halcyon 
days.  The  wild-cats  were  around,  but  got  little  game. 
They  made  their  first  big  inflation  in  New  England. 
The  Yankees  thought  they  could  swing  out  to  any  degree 


.\.MEK1CAK  FINANCIAL  HISTORY, 


313 


when  the  Anglo-Spanish  and  the  Napoleon  wars  made  coin 
so  plenty  here. 

There  was  a  great  rush  of  banks  between  1811  and  1816. 
when  the  second  United  States  Bank  came  in.  It  was  a 
fraud  from  the  start,  violated  its  charter  and  was  founded 
mostly  on  personal  notes.  But  it  swung  its  twenty  years. 
The  great  plan  of  the  wild-catters  was  to  get  its  treasury 
notes,  good  as  gold,  and  drawing  interest,  for  their  red 
dogs.  Right  here  let  us  affirm  that,  for  short,  all  State 
bank  money  may  be  called  wild-cats,  red  dogs  and  shin- 
plasters.  For  such  it  always  proves  in  panic  times.  The 
Chicago  Tribune  says  that  the  Democrats  are  "committed 
upon  both  principle  and  tradition  against  a  Federal  cur- 
rency— committed  also  to  State  banking. "  Not  so.  Jeffer- 
son was  strong  for  Federal  money,  /.  e.,  treasury  notes. 
The  Whigs  were  always  as  much  given  to  wild-cats  as  the 
Democrats.  Again  the  Tribune  tells  of  34,000  who  took 
the  benefit  of  the  bankruptcy  act  in  1841-2-3,  but  says  nothing 
of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  failed  between  1873  and 
1890,  under  the  crush  of  Republican  gold  resumption, 
without  any  such  release.  Intelligent  Democrats  could 
show  billions  of  loss  from  Republican  financiering  against 
hundreds  of  millions  under  Democracy.  Give  the  poor 
devil  Democrat  his  due.  He  makes  a  clumsy  attempt  now 
to  cover  his  rascality  in  voting  against  silver  bills  by  all  his 
talk  of  returning  to  wild-cats.  The  cheeky  Republicans 
offer  no  shadow  of  a  real  remedy  for  our  financial  ills. 

To  return  to  the  time  of  the  twenties.  The  new,  hopeful 
country  kept  having  booms  in  spite  of  bad  money.  After 
the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-15,  "blessed  peace," 
said  Matthew  Carey,  "came  and  brought  two  thousand 
merchant  buyers  to  Philadelphia."  Fortunes  were  made. 
It  was  funny  as  a  circus.  The  brokers  stuffed  the  United 
States  treasury  full  of  shinplasters,  not  good  thirty  miles 


314.  PRESEN7 '  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

from  home.  Congress  said  "resume"  in  1817.  Banks 
said,  "Go  to  the  devil."  With  twenty-two  millions  "on 
hand,"  Congress  had  to  borrow  half  a  million  to  keep 
house  on.  The  big  bank  was  given  over  to  favorites, 
bribery  and  corruption,  but  ruled  the  land.  There  was  a 
whirligig  between  the  branches  of  the  big  bank  and  the 
little  banks.  The  latter  bought,  with  their  red  dogs, 
from  the  branches,  drafts  on  Eastern  cities.  The  drafts 
bought  European  goods.  Meanwhile  the  branches  socked 
it  to  the  wild-catters  up  to  five  and  ten  per  cent,  a  month, 
till  they  redeemed  their  red  dogs  with  the  proceeds  of 
another  crop. 

In  1818  the  president  of  the  big  bank  resigned  when  it 
was  near  ruin.  A  new  president,  Cheves,  saved  the  bank, 
in  the  Bank  of  England  fashion,  by  ruining  a  lot  of  small 
banks  and  merchants.  In  1820  came  "stay  laws"  and  a 
"relief  system."  Men  could  redeem  their  lands  and 
negroes  in  two  years  by  paying  ten  per  cent.  down.  North 
Carolina  had  an  awful  time.  Robber  bankers  of  Newbern 
became  the  practical  owners  of  the  State  and  sucked  its 
blood.  Were  ruling  still  in  1833. 

In  1825  the  great  Nick  Biddle  took  the  presidency  of 
the  bank,  and  ran  the  whole  country,  till  knocked  out  by 
Jackson.  Biddle  was  the  biggest  boss  yet ;  moved  crops  ; 
lent  ten  millions  at  a  time  to  the  government.  Some 
thought  he  gave  the  rising  sun  a  boost.  When  there  was 
a  run,  he  only  allowed  his  branches  to  cash  their  own 
drafts.  In  1832  was  high  water  time  for  this  fine  old 
Philadelphia  gent.  President  Jackson,  who  hated  all 
undemocratic  high  kicking,  made  him  pay  the  government 
debt  from  his  government  deposits.  Jackson  stopped  the 
abnormal  boom  in  wild  lands  by  his  "specie  circular," 
ordering  only  specie  to  be  taken  for  United  States  lands. 
Then,  to  check  the  torrents  of  extravagance,  he  ordered 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL  HISTORY. 


315 


the  useless  thirty-seven  millions  that  he  had  foolishly  put 
in  State  banks  distributed  back  to  the  people  of  the 
States.  The  wild-catters  paid  eighteen  millions,  and  then 
all  broke,  beginning  in  New  York  in  May,  1837.  That  was 
a  grand  smash.  Jackson  had  a  glimpse  of  the  greenback 
remedy  in  his  muddled  head.  Jefferson  and  Calhoun  always 
had  it. 

Parallel  with  all  this  was  the  Mississippi  tomfoolery  of 
1830  to  1840.  That  State  borrowed  thirty  millions  on  the 
old  personal  note  plan  from  Holland,  and  fooled  it  away  in 
ten  years.  Slaves  were  then  the  only  good  assets.  These 
were  run  off  to  Texas,  and  "Gone  to  Texas"  (G.  T.  T.) 
was  a  familiar  inscription. 

The  College  Professor  and  the  Facts. 
Prof.  Laughlin  of  Chicago  University  said  in  his  recent 
speech  before   the  Sunset   Club  and  the  Bankers'  Associ- 
ation : 

"It  seems  to, me  that  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes 
that  this  country  ever  suffered  was  that  temporary,  and  to 
the  present  time  lasting,  intoxication  connected  with  the 
issue  of  United  States  notes  or  greenbacks.  From  the 
foundation  of  our  government,  in  1789,  to  February,  1862, 
the  United  States  government  never  issued  any  paper 
money." 

The  Chicago  Herald  of  December  10  voiced  the  same 
falsity  thus  : 

"  In  fact,  the  government  never  did  anything  of  the  kind 
until  1862,  w'nen  Congress  authorized  an  issue  of  legal- 
tender  notes.' 

Are  these  men  simply  reckless  liars,  or  are  they  ignorant 
of  the  facts?  Here  are  the  facts  :  From  1812  to  1860  U.  S. 
treasury  notes  were  issued  at  least  twenty  times  ;  that  is, 
in  every  time  of  emergency,  when  the  bankers'  wild-cat 
money  could  not  possibly  keep  business  going.  Thrse 


3 1 6  PRESENT  DAY  PR OBLEMS. 

notes  were  receivable  for  all  debts  due  the  government, 
including  interest  on  the  public  debt  and  custom-house 
clues  ;  and  that  fact  made  them  universally  acceptable  by 
the  people — better  than  gold.  In  these  respects  they  were 
better  than  the  greenbacks  ;  for  never  until  the  infernal 
exception  was  put  upon  them,  in  1862,  did  the  government 
refuse  to  receive  its  own  treasury  notes. 

Here  are  most  of  the  dates  and  amounts  of  those  issues 
— all  by  acts  of  Congress  readily  traced  :  June  3,  1812, 
$5,000,000;  February  25,  1813,  $10,000,000;  March  4, 
1814,  $10,000,000;  December  26,  1814,  $25,000,000; 
February  14,  1815,  $25,000,000;  October  12,  1837,  $10,- 
000,000;  March  21,  1838,  $10,000,000;  May  31,  1840, 
$5,000,000;  June  30,  1842,  $5,000,000;  August  31,  1842, 
$6,000,000;  July  22,  1846,  $10,000,000;  June  28,  1847, 
$23,000,000;  December  23,  1857,  $20,000,000;  December 
17,  1860,  $10,000,000. 

Is  that  lie  nailed?  The  above  treasury  notes  were 
hampered  in  various  ways.  The  money-lenders  persuaded 
Congress  that  it  would  be  ''contrary  to  the  laws  of  the 
Medes  and  Persians"  if  the  notes  drew  no  interest.  So 
they  were  generally  heavily  handicapped  in  that  way. 
Sometimes  they  only  drew  one  mill  per  annum,  sometimes 
nothing.  When  they  drew  none  the  Shylocks  at  once 
cried  that  the  country  was  ruined.  They  liked  them  well 
enough  plus  interest,  because  they  were  sharp  enough  to 
get  hold  of  them  and  pull  in  the  interest,  while  they 
managed  to  cram  the  United  States  treasury  full  of  their 
wild-cat  stuff. 

To  thoroughly  verify  these  serious  statements,  let  us 
look  at  the  statutes  under  which  these  issues  were  made 
and  the  particulars  of  their  issue : 

Act  of  June  3,  1812  (Statutes  2,  p.  766}. — This  law  author- 
ized the  issue  of  $5,000,000  treasury  notes,  to  run  one 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL   HISTORY.  317 

year,  bearing  five  and  two-fifths  per  cent,  interest.  They 
were  made  receivable  for  all  debts  due  the  government, 
and  were  to  be  paid  to  such  public  creditors  and  other 
persons  as  were  willing  to  receive  them.  They  might  also 
be  used  to  procure  loans,  or  might  be  placed  to  the  credit 
of  the  treasury  in  banks  at  par  and  accrued  interest. 

Act  of  February  25,  1813  {Statutes  2,  p.  Soi~). — This  law 
authorized  the  issue  of  $10,000,000  treasury  notes  to 
mature  in  one  year,  bearing  five  and  two-fifths  per  cent, 
interest  per  annum.  Terms  same  as  act  of  June  3,  1812. 

Act  of  March  4,  1814  (Statutes  j,  p.  100). — Authorized 
an  issue  of  $10,000,000  on  same  terms  as  above.  No 
charge  to  the  government  was  to  be  made  by  the  banks 
which  credited  the  notes. 

Act  of  December  26,  1814  (Statutes  j,  p.  /dz). — Authorized 
the  issue  of  $25,000,000  treasury  notes  in  place  of  a  loan 
of  $25,000.000  previously  authorized.  Ten  millions  of 
these  notes  were  to  be  applied  to  the  payment  of 
$10,000,000  previously  borrowed.  Otherwise  they  were 
like  the  above. 

Act  of  February  14,  1815  (Statutes  j,  p.  213}. — This  law 
authorized  the  issue  of  $25,000,000  treasury  notes  in 
addition  to  other  issues.  Up  to  this  time  the  Secretaries 
of  the  Treasury,  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Crawford,  had  corn- 
plained  that  the  treasury  notes  so  far  issued  were  made  too 
large  for  common  circulation,  though  their  standing  among 
the  people  was  good  and  the  people  were  desirous  of 
having  them.  They  said  treasury  notes  had  taken  the 
place  of  coin  and  equalized  the  exchange  throughout  the 
country.  To  meet  the  wishes  of  these  secretaries  and  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison,  as  well  as  the  people,  these 
$25,000,000  treasury  notes  for  circulation  were  authorized 
and  issued.  The  most  of  them  were  required  to  be  less 
than  $100  in  denomination,  and  to  be  payable  to  bearer, 


3i 8  ,       PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

while  those  of  $100  and  over  were  to  be  made  payable  to 
order  and  to  pay  by  indorsement,  and  were  to  bear  five 
and  two-fifths  per  cent,  interest.  The  smaller  ones  were 
to  bear  no  interest.  They  were  also,  for  the  first  time, 
made  receivable  for  six  per  cent,  bonds.  They  were  made 
to  circulate  as  money,  and  to  have  the  characteristics  of 
coin,  but  they  were  not  redeemable  therein.  They  were 
legal  tender  to  the  United  States.  These  notes,  after 
being  paid  into  the  treasury,  were  to  be  reissued. 

When  these  $25,000,000  treasury  notes  of  small  denomi- 
nations were  made  to  circulate  as  money,  and  to  bear  no 
interest,  the  indignation  of  all  the  banks  in  the  country 
was  aroused.  They  saw  that  if  those  notes  went  out 
among  the  people,  and  became  the  money  of  the  country, 
there  would  be  an  end  to  the  circulation  of  bank  notes. 
Such  was  the  truth.  There  was,  therefore,  a  general 
combination  in  New  England,  New  York,  Delaware  and 
Pennsylvania  to  kill  them  off.  The  old  Bank  of  the 
United  States,  chartered  in  1791,  the  charter  of  which 
expired  and  which  was  not  renewed  in  1811,  was  then,  as 
the  law  allowed,  closing  up  its  affairs.  The  debts  of  the 
people  to  this  bank  were  very  large.  The  bank  was  press- 
ing for  payment.  The  people  presented  these  treasury 
notes,  which  did  not  bear  interest,  in  payment.  The  bank, 
to  destroy  the  credit  of  the  notes,  and  to  force  the  recharter 
of  a  national  bank,  refused  to  receive  the  notes  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  payment  to  the  bank.  As  the  bank  would  not 
receive  the  notes  from  the  merchants,  the  merchants  were 
reluctantly  compelled  to  refuse  to  receive  them  for  debts 
due  and  for  goods  sold.  The  New  England  banks,  and 
those  of  Delaware,  were  also  deeply  involved  in  this  con- 
spiracy to  destroy  the  credit  of  these  treasury  notes,  as  all 
such  are  now.  The  embargo  and  non-intercourse  laws  of 
Jefferson  and  Madison  had  destroyed  the  carrying  trade  of 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL   HISTORY. 


319 


New  England,  and  had  caused  a  suspension  of  the  New 
England  banks  in  1809  and  1810.  The  people  of  New 
England  were,  therefore,  greatly  opposed  to  the  war  with 
England.  They  did  all  they  could  to  cripple  the  govern- 
ment in  carrying  it  on.  They  refused  all  loans,  even  of 
bank  notes,  and  were  very  hostile  to  all  treasury  notes, 
especially  to  those  intended  to  take  the  place  of  bank 
notes,  as  were  those  of  1815. 

By  a  general  combination  between  State  banks,  the  old 
national  bank  bondholders  and  bullion  brokers,  these  notes 
of  the  United  States  were  forced  to  a  discount  for  a  short 
time.  One  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  having 
all  treasury  notes  made  full  legal  tender  is  here  presented. 
Had  they  been  legal  tender  to  the  people,  as  well  as  to 
the  government,  all  the  efforts  of  the  banks  and  brokers  to 
reject  them  and  reduce  their  value  would  have  been  fruit- 
less. If  the  legal  tender  character  were  removed  from  the 
greenbacks  the  national  banks  would  at  once  discredit 
them  to-day. 

Immediately  after  these  efforts  of  the  banks  to  discredit 
treasury  notes,  an  application  was  made  to  Congress  for  a 
charter  for  another  United  States  bank,  which  proposed  to 
take  from  the  government,  as  part  of  its  capital,  $15,000,- 
ooo  of  these  same  treasury  notes,  to  withdraw  them  from 
competition  with  bank  notes.  (Just  as  the  rascally  con- 
spirators at  Washington  are  now  trying  to  do  with  three 
hundred  and  forty-six  million  greenbacks.) 

Mr.  Madison  vetoed  the  bill,  principally  on  account  ol 
this  provision.  But  $28,000,000  of  bonds  were  substituted 
for  treasury  notes,  as  capital  of  the  bank ;  and  by  a 
combination  of  the  Federal  party  and  a  few  Democrats  it 
was  chartered.  The  charter  provided  that  no  other  such 
bank  should  be  chartered  by  Congress  for  twenty  years. 
This  implied,  also,  that  all  treasury  notes  intended  to  cir- 


320 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


culate  as  money  should  be  withdrawn,  and  that  this  bank 
should  furnish  all  the  national  paper  circulation  for  twenty 
years. 

For  this  privilege  the  bank  paid  $1,500,000.  The  con- 
tract on  the  part  of  the  government  was  disgraceful,  but, 
having  been  made,  it  had  to  be  carried  out ;  and  it  was 
carried  out,  as  the  following  acts  of  Congress  show: 

The  Act  of  March  3,  1817  (Statutes  j,  p.  J//). — The 
second  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  just  gone  into 
operation.  Congress  was  compelled  to  comply  with  its 
part  of  the  contract.  It,  therefore,  passed  this  law,  which 
repealed  all  laws  authorizing  the  reissue  of  the  "treasury 
notes  of  1815."  But  the  people  had  these  government 
notes,  and  they  preferred  them  to  bank  notes  or  coin.  They 
knew  that  the  repeal  of  the  law  authorizing  their  reissue 
could  not  affect  the  value  of  those  then  in  their  hands, 
for  a  valuable  consideration  paid  the  government.  They, 
therefore,  held  on  to  the  notes  (as  our  people  should  now, 
in  spite  of  Sherman,  Gage  &  Co.)  Instead  of  paying 
them  into  the  treasury,  where  the  law  required  them  to  be 
destroyed,  the  people  held  on  to  them,  and  used  them  in 
business,  greatly  to  the  annoyance  of  the  bank  and  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  then  a  bank  man  (Mr.  Dallas). 
This  officer  ordered  the  collector  of  revenue  to  refuse  to 
receive  these  notes  for  duties  on  imports,  suppposing  that 
by  this  means  he  could  injure  their  credit  and  force  their 
presentation  at  the  treasury  for  payment  in  coin  or  national 
bank  notes,  that  they  might  be  canceled.  This  gave  rise 
to  a  suit  in  Boston.  A  firm  presented  treasury  notes  in 
payment  of  duties  on  imports,  for  which  the  law  creating 
them  provided  that  they  should  be  received.  The  govern- 
ment refused  to  receive  them,  and  brought  suit  for  the 
duties.  The  defendants  pleaded  a  tender  of  treasury  notes. 
The  government  answered  that  they  were  not  legal  tender, 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL    UJS'JORY. 


321 


Judge  Story,  in  1819,  heard  the  case,  and  decided  for  the 
defendants.  The  decision  is  that  "Treasury  notes  are 
legal  tender  for  everything  for  which  the  government 
makes  them  receivable."  This  decision  is  in  2  Mason, 
pages  i  to  18.  This  decision,  though  against  the  govern- 
ment, was  never  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court.  It, 
therefore,  stood  as  the  law  of  the  land. 

The  Act  of  May  3,  1822  (Statutes  3,  p.  675}. — Treasury 
notes  still  remained  out  among  the  people,  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  the  bank  and  the  Secretary.  The  decision  of 
Judge  Story  raised  instead  of  depreciating  them  in  the 
estimation  of  the  people,  and  increased  the  anxiety  of  the 
bank  and  the  Secretary  respecting  them.  The  notes  did 
not  come  to  the  treasury  for  destruction.  (Just  so  the 
people  acted  when  John  Sherman  tried  to  make  them  take 
5-20  bonds  and  give  up  the  greenbacks. )  They  remained 
among  the  people  until  May  3,  1822,  when  Congress  again 
came  to  the  rescue  of  the  bank  and  passed  the  law  of  that 
date,  which  provided  that  these  treasury  notes  should  not 
be  received  by  any  collector  of  revenue  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  they  should  be  received  and  paid  at  the 
treasury  only.  All  that  came  into  the  treasury  were  to  be 
destroyed.  The  people  wished  to  retain  these  notes  ;  but 
the  bank  forced  Congress  to  act  against  them;  and  Con- 
gress, by  destroying  their  receivability,  compelled  their 
surrender  by  the  people.  We  hear  no  more  of  treasury 
notes  thereafter  until  1837,  when,  as  usual,  the  necessities 
of  the  government  again  called  them  into  being. 

The  Act-  of  October  12,  1837  (Statutes  J,  p.  201}. — The 
banks  had  all  suspended,  with  nearly  $40,000,000  govern 
ment  bonds.  Not  one  year  before  the  law  had  made  these 
banks  public  depositories,  with  their  promise  that  they 
would  always  pay  coin  for  all  liabilities.  The  government 
had,  in  i<">35.  paid  off  the  last  dollar  of  the  national  debt. 


322 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


The  surplus  then  in  the  treasury  was  nearly  $40,000,000. 
This  was  in  the  banks.  The  government  had  no  money  to 
pay  ordinary  expenses,  unless  the  treasury  used  suspended 
bank  notes.  This  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  President,  refused 
to  do.  He  called  Congress  together  to  meet  the  emer- 
gency. Its  remedy  for  the  emergency  was  treasury  notes 
(as  it  should  now  be),  which  Jefferson  says  are  the  only 
reliance  of  a  nation.  This  act  of  October  12,  1837,  pro- 
vided for  the  issue  of  $10,000,000  treasury  notes,  in  denomi- 
nations not  less  than  $50,  running  one  year.  The  law  left 
the  interest  which  they  were  to  bear  discretional  with  the 
President  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  but  in  no 
case  was  it  to  exceed  six  per  cent.  Congress  appeared  too 
timid  to  make  these  notes  money  bearing  no  interest.  The 
Secretary,  knowing  that  the  people  needed  them  as  money, 
complied  with  the  law  by  making  many  of  them  bear  one 
mill  interest  per  annum.  As  such  they  circulated  freely  as 
money,  and  the  people  were  delighted  to  get  and  use  them. 
They  answered  all  the  purposes  of  coin,  and  equalized  the 
exchanges  throughout  the  country.  The  banks  did  not,  at 
that  time,  possess  sufficient  power  to  injure  them.  Men 
now  living  remember  them  and  their  usefulness,  although, 
imitating  the  foolishness  of  the  Bank  of  England,  they  were 
never  paid  out  of  the  treasury  but  once. 

The  Act  of  May  21,  1838  (Statutes  5,  /.  228}.—  This  act 
authorized  the  reissue  of  the  $10,000,000  treasury  notes 
issued  under  the  act  of  1837,  which  had  been  canceled. 
They  should  have  been  used  till  worn  out,  and  then 
replaced  ad  infinitum.  It  has  taken  time  and  a  great  war 
to  open  the  eyes  of  the  people  and  Congress  to  see  what 
Jefferson  saw  in  1813.  And  now,  again,  many  are  forgetting 
the  facts. 

The  Act  of  May  ji,  1840  (Statutes  5,  p.  J/tf). — This  law 
renews  the  act  of  1837,  relating  to  the  issue  of  treasury 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL   HISTORY. 


323 


notes,  and  makes  the  following  modifications  :  i.  That  they 
were  to  be  issued  in  place  of  those  redeemed  ;  not  to 
exceed  in  this  issue  $5,000,000.  2.  They  were  to  be 
redeemed  in  less  than  a  year,  if  the  treasury  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  redeem  them.  3.  When  ready  to  redeem  them, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  to  give  notice.  4.  After 
due  notice,  these  notes  should  cease  to  bear  interest,  if 
they  remained  out.  This  act  was  to  continue  only  one 
year.  It  is  evident  that  Congress  supposed  the  necessity 
for  issuing  treasury  notes  would  soon  cease.  But  it  was 
mistaken.  Treasury  notes  continued  to  be  issued  up  to 
1848. 

The  Act  of  July  4,  1840  (Statutes  5,  p.  j8j). — This  was 
the  first  independent  treasury  act  of  the  days  of  Van 
Buren.  It  had  good  features,  but  was  badly  bungled.  The 
money  of  the  government  was  to  be  kept  by  the  govern- 
ment (instead  of  the  banks),  in  the  mints,  custom-houses, 
post-offices  and  treasury  building.  The  fool  part  of  it  was 
that  after  January  3,  1843,  no  payment  should  be  made  to 
the  government  in  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin.  The 
banks  were  suspended.  The  government  was  being  sus- 
tained by  treasury  notes.  But  still  this  law  provided  that 
after  January  3,  1843,  treasury  notes  should  be  excluded 
from  the  treasury  as  well  as  bank  notes.  An  appeal  was 
made  to  the  people,  in  that  year's  election,  upon  this  law, 
and  Van  Buren  and  his  coin  payments  were  knocked  out  by 
Harrison  with  wiser  plans. 

The  Act  of  July  21,  1841  (Statutes  j,  p.  438}. — This  was 
among  the  first  Whig  acts,  and  they  in  turn  made  fools  of 
themselves.  The}'  favored  a  national  bank,  but  opposed 
treasury  notes.  The  law  provided  for  the  issue  of  $12,- 
000,000  six  per  cent,  bonds.  The  principal  purpose  was  to 
redeem  the  good  treasury  notes  of  the  Democrats.  A 
Pittsburg  man  was  sent  to  England  to  sell  the  bonds. 


324 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


Though  the  United  States  had  paid  its  national  debt  in 
1835,  the  bonds  were  no  go.  The  Whigs,  having  failed  to 
found  a  bank  and  sell  these  bonds,  were  compelled  to  rely 
upon  the  much-despised  treasury  notes  of  the  Democrats. 

The  Act  of  April  13,  1842  (Statutes  5,  p.  ^/j),  was  a  final 
effort  to  shove  the  bonds.  They  were  increased  to  $17,- 
000,000,  the  time  extended  indefinitely  up  to  twenty  years. 
They  could  be  sold  at  less  than  par.  The  rich,  strong 
young  nation  could  not  do  it,  though  taxes  and  duties  were 
pledged  for  payment.  The  war  was  going  on  between  the 
Whig  Congress  and  sensible  President  Tyler.  The  latter 
advocated  the  issuing  of  all  the  paper  money  as  well  as 
metallic  money  by  the  government ;  but  Congress  wished 
the  money  issued  by  a  national  bank.  The  President 
vetoed  the  bank  bill.  Congress,  by  way  of  heading  him 
off,  passed  the  act  to  make  treasury  notes  bear  six  per  cent, 
interest,  to  hinder  their  being  used  as  money. 

The  Act  of  June  jo,  1842  {Statutes  5,  p.  766}. — This  pro- 
vided for  $5,000,000  treasury  notes  to  run  one  year.  Interest 
five  per  cent.  Otherwise  like  most  of  the  others,  as  to 
legal  tender,  payment  to  public  creditors  and  placing  them 
in  banks. 

The  Act  of  August  31,  1842  {Statutes  j,  /.  5<?/),  shows  a 
lingering  hope  of  selling  the  bonds.  If  not  successful,  the 
government  was  to  issue  $6,000,000  more  of  treasury  notes 
(trotting  out  the  despised  pack-mule  again),  which  might 
even  be  reissued.  What  a  let-up!  Br'er  Fox  Shylock,  he 
lie  low! 

The  Act  of  March  j,  1843  (Statutes  5,  p.  614},  authorizes 
the  issue  of  new  treasury  notes  to  supply  the  place  of  those 
redeemed. 

The  Act  of  July  22,  1846  {Statutes  j,  /.  jp). — The  Dem- 
crats  resumed  power  in  1845.  This  act  authorizes  $10,- 
000,000  treasury  notes  in  place  of  those  destroyed. 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL    HISTORY. 


325 


The  Act  of  August  6,  1846  (Statutes  9,  p.  j-p),  finally 
established  the  independent  treasury  on  a  sensible  basis. 
It  made  all  treasury  notes  and  gold  and  silver  coins  equal 
in  payment  of  all  debts  to  the  government.  This  held  till 
1861,  and  many  of  the  provisions  are  still  law,  but  badly 
enforced,  as  when  our  recent  Presidents  deposited  many 
millions  in  banks. 

The  Act  of  January  28,  1847  (Statutes  9,  p.  //#),  author- 
ized $23,000,000  (more  than  $500,000,000  now)  to  fight  the 
Mexican  war.  No  interest  was  fixed.  They  mostly  drew 
one  mill,  and  the  people  gladly  used  them  as  money. 

The  Act  of  December  23,  1857  {Statutes  IT,  p.  257*),  pro- 
vided for  $20,000,000  treasury  notes  to  take  the  place  of 
coin,  the  banks  having  suspended  with  the  coin  in  their 
vaults.  (Heaven,  or  something,  generally  saves  the 
banks.)  These  were,  like  most  of  the  previous  issues, 
with  nominal  interest.  The  plain  people  took  them  gladly. 

The  Act  of  December  17,  1860  (Statutes  n,  p.  121),  pro- 
vides for  $10,000,000  treasury  notes,  running  one  year,  at 
six  per  cent.  The  interest  was  to  run  and  the  notes  remain 
out  until  sixty  days  after  notice  of  readiness  to  redeem. 
Otherwise  they  had  the  old  provisions. 

The  Act  of  February  8,  i86f,  authorized  the  issue  of 
treasury  notes,  or  a  loan  of  $25,000,000  to  take  up  treasury 
notes. 

The  Act  of  March  2,  1861  (Statutes  12,  p.  178},  provides 
for  a  loan  of  $10,000,000  to  take  up  treasury  notes  and  for 
government  expenses.  Same  old  story.  .  If  bonds  not 
sold,  then  more  notes. 

This  brings  us  to  the  act  of  July  17,  1861,  when  the 
gigantic  $250,000,000  of  loans  and  notes  came  up.  The 
further  history  is  well  known.  That  just  given  will  sur- 
prise those  who  thought  treasury  notes  began  with  the 
rebellion. 


326  PKEsr.xr  DAY 

Safety  Fund — Suffolk  and  Redemption  Banks. 

As  many  of  the  foolish  propositions  now  put  forth  for 
"reforming  the  currency"  are  only  feeble  imitations  of  the 
Safety  Fund,  Suffolk  System  and  Redemption  Bank  Sys- 
tem that  arose  before  the  Rebellion,  a  brief  account  of 
them  will  be  given  here.  In  the  thirties  and  forties  there 
were  as  many  so-called  systems  as  there  were  States.  The 
Suffolk  System  of  Massachusetts,  among  those  first  started, 
alone  deserved  the  name  of  system.  In  1829  that  State 
decreed  that  no  bank  should  operate  unless  fifty  per  cent, 
of  its  capital  was  paid  in  coin.  Notes  must  not  exceed 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  capital.  Liabilities,  except 
deposits,  must  not  exceed  twice  the  capital.  Such  pro- 
visions, however,  amounted  to  little,  because,  much  of  the 
loans  being  simple  credits,  there  was  small  inducement  in 
the  strong  banks  to  overissue  notes.  As  no  provision  was 
made  for  reserves,  the  coin  to  set  a  bank  in  motion  could 
be  bought  and  sold  again  right  after  the  organization.  The 
Redemption  system,  afterward  adopted,  was  much  better, 
but,  as  will  be  shown,  only  a  harm  in  panic  times. 

The  New  York  banks  were  placed  mostly  in  New  York 
City  and  the  Hudson  River  towns.  In  1829  the  Safety 
Fund  System  arose  there.  It  allowed  the  banks  under  it 
to  issue  notes  to  twice  the  amount  of  their  paid-up  capital, 
and  loans  to  twice  and  a  half  the  amount.  Every  bank 
under  it  had  to  pay  the  State  Treasurer,  annually,  one- 
half  of  one  per  cent,  upon  its  share  capital — these  pay- 
ments to  continue  till  each  bank  had  a  sum  equal  to  three 
per  cent,  of  its  share  capital.  The  amounts  so  paid  were 
to  be  held  as  a  common  fund  for  the  discharge  of  notes  or 
other  liabilities  of  any  bank  of  the  system. 

In  1841  and  1842  eleven  of  the  Safety  Fund  banks  failed, 
making  a  loss  to  the  creditors  of  $2,588,933.  The  fund  was 
then  $86,274.  The  whole  amount  of  the  fund  to  September 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL   HISTORY.  327 

30,  1848,  was  only  $1,876,063.  The  balance  of  the  loss 
was  provided  by  the  State,  which  was  to  be  reimbursed  by 
further  additions  to  the  fund.  That  was  very  nice  for  the 
banks.  In  1842  the  act  was  so  amended  that  the  fund 
became  chargeable  only  with  the  losses  to  the  public  on 
the  note  circulation,  just  as  it  is  the  case  with  the  national 
banks  now. 

In  1838  New  York  founded  the  "  Free  Banking  System, " 
by  which  banks  could  be  formed  without  application  to  the 
legislature.  These  associations  were  required  to  deposit 
with  the  State  Comptroller  United  States  or  State  stocks 
equal  to  a  five  per  cent,  stock,  or  bonds  and  mortgages  on 
improved  real  estate  worth  twice  the  sum  secured,  and 
equal  in  amount  to  their  note  circulation.  The  Comptroller 
issued  the  notes  to  them.  Up  to  1843  twenty-nine  of  these 
banks  failed — circulation,  $1,233,374;  nominal  value  of 
securities,  $1,555,338.  These  produced  $953,371,  or  74 
per  cent,  of  the  circulation  secured.  The  law  was  then 
amended  to  exclude  all  but  United  States  stocks,  and  those 
of  the  State,  which  must  be  equal  to  six  per  cent. 

A  wiser  provision  had  been  adopted  in  1840,  requiring  all 
the  State  banks  to  redeem  their  notes,  either  in  New  York 
City,  Albany  or  Troy,  at  a  discount  of  one-half  of  one  per 
cent.  In  1851  this  discount  was  reduced  to  one-quarter  of 
one  per  cent.  After  1851  two  New  York  banks  started  the 
Redemption  System.  The  notes  of  such  of  the  country 
banks  as  kept  deposits  with  them  were  returned,  the 
redeeming  banks  dividing  the  discounts  between  them- 
selves and  the  issuers.  This  system  was  useful,  as  it 
forced  a  constant  redemption  ;  but  see  how  it  worked  in 

1857- 

After  1838  no  more  Safety  Fund  banks  were  chartered, 
and  the  system  gradually  lapsed.  But  a  curious  story 
could  be  told  of  how  it  ran  through  the  West.  That 


328  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

region  was  deluged  with  "safety"  money — all  but  the 
safety.  In  1846  the  new  Constitution  of  New  York  took 
from  the  legislature  all  power  to  pass  any  act  granting  any 
special  charter  for  banking  purposes;  such  organizations 
to  be  under  general  laws.  After  1850  bank  stockholders 
were  to  be  liable  to  the  amount  of  their  shares  for  all  the 
debts,  and  holders  of  notes  to  be  preferred  creditors. 

Now,  for  the  redemption  banks  in  1857.  These  banks, 
useful  in  their  way  in  ordinary  times,  did  harm  in  that 
panic.  A  few  years  before  a  new  source  of  profit  was 
suggested  to  some  New  York  banks.  If  the  redemption 
that  was  distributed  among  the  money-brokers  could  be 
monopolized  by  one  or  two  institutions  it  would  yield  a 
rich  revenue;  and  it  could  easily  be  attracted  by  reducing 
the  rates  of  redemption  so  low  as  to  exclude  individual 
competition.  The  system  was  based  somewhat  upon  the 
Suffolk  system.  Coupled  with  the  payment  of  interest 
on  country  deposits,  it  had  grown  into  astonishing  activity 
before  1857.  It  worked  admirably  as  a  piece  of  machinery, 
with  the  popular  commendation  that  it  restricted  the  bank 
currency  by  enforcing  prompt  redemption,  and  saved  the 
merchants  a  heavy  brokerage.  It  was  a  great  convenience 
in  the  first  days  of  the  panic,  when  private  capital  was 
withdrawn  from  the  purchase  of  currency,  and  when  the 
merchants,  but  for  the  redeeming  banks,  would  have  been 
overburdened  with  unavailable  notes. 

But  the  redemption  system,  like  everything  else  that 
was  susceptible  of  abuse,  was  turned  aside  from  its  legiti- 
mate purpose  and  made  to  answer  a  mischievous  end. 
The  low  rate  at  which  the  bills  were  taken  in  New  York 
accelerated  their  return  in  bulk,  as  a  basis  of  exchange,  or 
for  credit  in  account.  Thus  their  distinctive  character  as 
circulation  was  in  a  great  measure  destroyed.  The  cheap 
redemption,  so  desirable  in  a  common  state  of  the  market, 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL   HISTORY. 


329 


became  virtually  a  premium  on  the  currency  of  New  York. 
The  tendency,  then,  was  to  take  it  out  of  a  healthful 
circulation  and  throw  it  back  to  its  source,  whereby  it 
profited  nobody  so  much  as  the  stockholders  of  the  express 
companies.  The  country  banks  might  keep  their  own  bills 
in  a  perpetual  circulation,  by  exchanging  them  with  each 
other,  and  thus  creating  a  trade  in  them.  The  same 
packages  were  not  unfrequently  kept  unopened  in  the 
circuit,  and  reissued  in  bulk,  as  often  as  they  were  needed 
to  supply  balances. 

In  a  panicky  time  such  redeeming  banks  must  either  put 
more  capital  into  the  service  or  reject  the  bills.  In  1857, 
in  spite  of  the  best  management,  the  currency  circuit  was 
kept  up  ;  the  bills  of  one  bank  were  paid  for  the  bills  of 
all  the  others. 

Another  evil  arose  from  these  banks.  The  credit  given 
to  an  unsecured  currency  by  their  indorsement  gave  it  a 
wide  circulation,  to  the  displacement  of  bills  that  were 
based  upon  State  and  United  States  stocks.  It  was  now 
seen  that  this  credit  had  no  other  basis  than  a  current 
deposit  by  the  issuing  bank,  which  deposit  was  in  very 
small  proportion  to  its  outstanding  bills ;  and  that  the 
redeeming  bank  was  prompt  to  the  hour  in  repudiating 
those  bills  if  the  deposit  was  not  maintained.  This  was  a 
fallacious  credit,  entirely  independent  of  the  separate 
ability  of  the  issuing  banks.  The  general  result  was  that 
bills  were  likely  to  fail  in  transit,  and  they  would  not  then 
be  admitted  as  a  deposit,  which  would  involve  the  rejec- 
tion of  others.  And  so  the  row  of  bricks  began  to  tumble 
in  both  directions. 

There  was  no  incident  of  that  panic  that  spread  its 
terrors  abroad  with  such  sure  and  rapid  steps  as  the  rejec- 
tion, by  the  redemption  banks,  of  bills  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  receive  on  deposit.  If  it  had  been 


330  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

possible  to  remove  all  other  causes  of  excitement,  that 
alone  would  probably  have  involved  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments.  It  filled  all  the  shops  of  the  country 
with  alarm.  It  created  mobs  in  the  savings  banks,  and 
pushed  forward  the  panic,  by  exciting  the  fears  of  the 
multitude. 

The  Example  of  France. 

Professor  Laughlin  has  the  gall,  as  few  of  his  confreres 
have,  to  appeal  to  "the  example  of  France,"  after  the 
Prussian  war  of  1871,  in  not  "interfering  with  her  media 
of  exchange."  It  is  hard  to  tell  whether  his  statement  is 
based  upon  impudence  or  ignorance.  She  interfered  with 
all  the  ideas  of  propriety  entertained  by  his  clique  in  a 
way  that  has  been  secretly  their  despair  ever  since.  Yet 
hear  his  glorification  of  a  scheme  that  cuts  all  the  ground 
from  under  him.  He  says  : 

"France  borrowed  largely,  collected  large  amounts  of 
capital  by  the  creation  of  her  national  debt,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  retained  her  circulating  medium  in  so  perfect 
a  condition  that  the  moment  the  war  was  over  she  slipped 
along  smoothly  upon  the  wheels  of  industrial  success  and 
prosperity,  without  any  derangement  of  her  business. 
And,  during  that  time,  she  carried  through  one  of  the 
most  magnificent  schemes  of  exchange,  in  the  form  of  the 
payment  of  indemnity,  that  has  ever  taken  place  in  history. 
She  actually  paid  that  foreign  indemnity  of  the  war  to 
Germany  practically  without  deranging  the  rate  of  ex- 
change in  France." 

He  don't  tell  how.  Don't  tell  that  she  flooded  all  the 
avenues  of  trade  with  her  paper  money,  and  thus  made  her 
goods  so  plenty  and  cheap  that  Germany  bought  them 
instead  of  her  own,  and  was  then  in  turn  nearly  bank- 
rupted ;  so  that  France  paid  three  quarters  of  the 
"milliard"  in  French  goods! 

But  hear  the  true  story  from  Wendell  Phillips,  an 
all-round,  up-to-date  reformer,  whose  motto  was.  "Act  in 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL  HISTORY.  331 

the  living  present."  When  the  monopolizers  of  black  men 
were  beaten  he  turned  to  face  the  monopolizers  of  all  men 
and  women.  Here  is  his  eloquent  picture  : 

"France  has  just  paid  Germany  one  billion  dollars. 
Her  chief  cities  have  been  sacked  and  plundered. 
Humiliated  by  defeat,  torn  by  civil  dissensions,  she 
laughs,  while  all  the  rest  of  Christendom  wade  through 
the  mire  of  bankruptcy.  Her  ships  are  full  busy,  and 
what  little  other  nations  do  is  in  carrying  to  and  fro  her 
manufactures.  Her  homes  are  happy,  her  streets  crowded 
with  passing  trains  loaded  with  goods;  all  her  mills  hurry- 
ing night  and  day  to  get  even  with  her  demand  upon  them. 
Labor  walks  rejoicing  and  capital  sleeps  easy,  fat  with  its 
gains.  What  magician  has  done  this?  Paper  money. 
Like  the  rest  of  the  nations,  she  ran  to  its  protection 
during  the  stress  and  strain  of  her  German  war.  Unlike 
and  wiser  than  the  rest  of  us,  she  has  not  hurried  back  to 
coin.  Wiser  than  we,  she  received  the  paper  she  offered 
to  others.  This  honesty  has  its  reward.  Her  paper  is, 
to-day,  more  valuable  than  gold." 

Among  the  great  results  of  this  policy  were  an  abund- 
ance of  gold  and  silver  coming  from  abroad,  until 
$1,200,000,000  was  found  to  be  in  the  country. 

Lest  some  may  doubt  the  statement  about  the  Germans 
only  getting  a  little  gold  for  that  indemnity,  an  extract  is 
here  given  from  "Our  Money  Wars,"  p.  152. 

"  Ivan  C.  Michels  says:  'The  indemnity  from  France 
to  Germany,  after  the  war  of  1870-71,  including  interest  at 
five  per  cent,  per  annum,  amounted  to  $1,060,209,015. 
After  crediting  France  with  the  value  of  certain  railroads 
in  Alsace  and  Lorraine,  the  amount  of  indemity  due  Ger- 
many was  $998,172,069,  or  4,990,860,349  francs,  which  was 
paid  by  the  French  government  through  the  Bank  of 
France.  At  my  request  the  Bank  of  France  furnished  to 
me  several  years  ago  the  following  statement  as  to  the 
mode  of  having  paid  said  indemnity  : 

Francs. 

In  bank  notes  of  the  Bank  of  France 125,000,000 

In  French  gold   coins 273,003,050 


332  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

In  French  silver  coins 239,291,875 

In  German  bank  notes 105,039,045 

Bills  of  exchange  drawn  in  thalers 2,485,513,729 

Bills  drawn  on  Frankfurt  in  florins ,  . .  .  235,128,152 

Bills  drawn  on  Hamburg   in  marksbancs. .  . .  265,216,990 

Bills  drawn  on  Berlin  in  reichsmarks 79,072,309 

Bills  drawn  on  Amsterdam  in   florins 250,540,821 

Bills  drawn  on  Antwerp  and  Brussels  in  francs  295,704,546 

Bills  drawn  on  London  in  pounds  sterling..  637,349,832 


Total  francs 4,990,860,349 

"  'The  patriotic  people  of  France  raised  the  vast  sum 
by  a  loan  in  less  than  six  months  from  the  time  the  gov- 
ernment appealed  to  them.  Germany  expected  to  receive 
for  years  to  come  five  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the  indemnity 
bonds;  but  the  Bank  of  France,  through  the  French 
bankers,  drew  on  Germany,  England,  Scotland  and  Bel- 
gium, and  in  four  months'  time  the  whole  indemnity  was 
paid.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  this  financial 
transaction  been  equaled,  and  I  doubt  that  any  other 
banking  institution  could  have  succeeded  so  well  as  the 
Bank  of  France.  Germany  expected  the  payment  in  gold 
coin  or  bullion,  having  previously  and  purposely  de- 
monetized silver.  But  the  fact  remains  that  actually  in 
gold  only  273,003,050  francs,  equal  to  $54,600,610,  was 
paid  by  the  Bank  of  France,  and  that  sum  only  left 
France,  was  remelted  in  Germany  and  coined  into  reichs- 
marks. England,  with  her  gold  standard,  had  to  part  with 
her  gold  to  the  amount  of  637,348,832  francs,  equal  to 
$127,469,964.  Bills  of  exchange  on  the  German  bankers 
throughout  the  German  empire,  especially  on  Hamburg, 
Berlin  and  Frankfurt,  came  to  3,064,901,180  francs,  equal 
to  $612,986,236,  nigh  on  two-thirds  of  the  whole  amount 
of  the  indemnity.  This  magnificent  stroke  of  finance  on 
the  part  of  the  Bank  of  France  and  the  French  bankers 
came  near  ruining  the  leading  German  bankers;  and 
forty-one  banking  houses  throughout  the  German  empire 
had  to  suspend  temporarily,  not  being  able  to  honor  the 
drafts  made  upon  them.  The  extravagance  of  the  German 
people  during  the  war  of  1870-71  brought  them  into  debt 
to  France  for  luxuries,  wines,  etc.,  to  an  enormous  extent ; 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL  HISTORY 


333 


and  when  the  Bank  of  France  purchased  bills  of  exchange 
from  the  French  bankers,  who  drew  on  their  German  cor- 
respondents, a  panic  ensued,  and  the  Germans  suffered 
more  than  is  general!}'  supposed.'  " 

The  above  from  Michels  shows  that  he  saw  but  dimly 
what  Phillips  saw  so  plainly,  that  government  paper 
money,  nourishing  all  industries,  gave  France  that  victory. 
Michels  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  truth  when  he  speaks  of 
luxuries,  wines,  etc. 

To  get  a  clear  view  of  the  French  financial  genius  we 
have  to  go  back  to  1848,  when  Louis  Philippe  abdicated 
and  the  republic  was  founded  amid  great  confusion.  The 
French  have  an  instinct  for  finance  far  superior  to  anything 
yet  shown — by  our  rulers  at  least — in  England  and  America. 
"Paris,"  says  Victor  Hugo,  "is  the  city  of  the  initiative." 
It  is  not  afraid  to  start  things.  It  is  not,  like  Washington 
and  New  York,  always  asking  what  London  would  do  or 
think.  Taking  Louis  Blanc's  advice  in  1848,  it  started 
national  work-shops  to  insure  the  employment  of  surplus 
labor.  Those  did  good  for  a  time,  but  they  were  soon 
perverted  and  destroyed  by  a  treacherous  Jew  who  got 
hold  of  them. 

Another  new  departure  was  more  successful.  "Besides 
its  regular  financial  operations,"  says  the  London  Times  of 
February  16,  1849,  "the  Bank  of  France  made  vast 
advances  to  the  city  of  Paris,  to  Marseilles,  to  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Seine,  and  to  the  hospitals,  amounting  in  all 
to  260,000,000  francs.  But  even  this  was  not  all.  To 
enable  the  manufacturing  interests  to  weather  the  storm, 
at  a  moment  when  all  sales  were  interrupted,  a  decree  of 
the  National  Assembly  had  directed  warehouses  to  be 
opened  for  the  reception  of  all  kinds  of  goods,  and  pro- 
vided that  the  registered  invoices  of  these  goods  so  depos- 
ited should  be  made  negotiable  by  indorsement.  The 
Bank  of  France  discounted  these  receipts.  In  Havre 


334 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


alone  18,000,000  francs  was  thus  advanced  upon  colonial 
products,  and  in  Paris  14,000,000  on  merchandise.  In  all 
60,000,000  francs  was  thus  made  available  for  all  the  pur 
poses  of  trade.  Thus  the  great  institution  had  placed 
itself,  as  it  were,  in  direct  contact  with  every  interest  of 
the  community,  from  the  Minister  of  the  Treasury  down 
to  the  trader  in  a  distant  part.  Like  a  huge  hydraulic 
machine,  it  employed  its  colossal  powers  to  pump  a  fresh 
stream  into  the  exhausted  arteries  of  trade,  to  sustain  credit 
and  preserve  the  circulation  from  complete  collapse." 

How  like  "a  grimacing  dance  of  apes"  our  American 
way  of  handling  financial  crises  looks,  in  comparison  with 
the  above. 

The  Bank  of  England. 

Prof.  Laughlin  showed  the  usual  gold-bug  worship  of 
British  finance  in  this  : 

"  In  the  Bank  of  England  the  first  moment  of  stringency 
the  rate  of  discount  is  raised.  That  has  the  effect  of  pre- 
venting all  unnecessary  loans.  The  borrower  who  has 
good  collateral  will  get  the  money  if  he  is  willing  to  pay 
an  increased  rate.  Our  system  is  such  that  we  can  loan 
until  we  come  to  the  legal  limit ;  and  is  deficient  in  that 
respect,  as  we  cannot  loan  at  a  greater  discount  because  of 
the  iniquitous  action  of  the  usury  laws.  You  can  help  a 
customer  by  increasing  the  rate.  Just  at  the  moment  of 
the  greatest  stringency  our  American  system  is  deficient." 

Ordinary  decorous  language  would  fail  to  characterize 
that  infamous  statement.  The  fact  is  that  the  British 
system  is  utterly  brutal.  Our  "iniquitous  usury  laws" 
prevent  a  man  from  giving  everything  he  has  to  the  banks 
in  hard  times.  The  British  system  is  that  of  Jay  Gould  in 
his  gold  corner  of  1869.  He  settled  with  his  debtors  by 
"taking  all  they  had."  He  was  merciful,  and  forgave 
them  the  balance ;  which  is  the  usual  stock  exchange 
style. 


AM  ERIC  AX  J-'1XAXCIAL  HISTORY. 


335 


In  coin-paying  eras  corrupt  governments  and  Shylocks 
have  debased  coins  to  make  them  go  further.  In  these 
credit-mongering  times  they  try  to  bring  their  coin  basis 
down  to  one  metal,  gold,  and  clamor  for  extreme  fineness 
of  that,  in  order  to  make  their  inverted  pyramid  of  credit 
go  further  and  sell  dearer.  The  policy  of  Great  Britain, 
for  instance,  has  been  to  make  gold,  its  standard,  so  dear 
and  .inaccessible  to  the  foreigners  and  debtor  class  that 
they  would  find  the  other  commodities  in  the  market 
cheaper  than  the  gold  in  the  market,  so  that  settlements  in 
other  commodities  would  be  preferable.  The  retention  of 
gold  in  the  Bank  of  England,  by  raising  discounts  in 
panicky  times,  though  murderous  ("kindness,"  says  Mr. 
Laughlin)  to  individual  active  business  men,  is  a  necessary 
factor  in  this  piratical  scheme,  and  the  fulcrum  upon 
which  England  derricks  into  her  treasure  vaults  the 
plunder  of  the  whole  world.  Business  is  made  a  lottery, 
turning  out  dazzling  prizes  that  keep  merchants  from 
rebellion.  Long-headed  American  Shylocks  hope  to  see 
the  United  States  as  much  more  successful  in  plundering 
the  globe,  in  this  way,  as  our  country  is  larger  than 
England. 

Finally,  as  to  Laughlin,  with  what  bitter  scorn  this  state- 
ment from  the  "closet  scholar"  will  be  greeted  by  the 
thousands  of  manufacturers  who,  during  panics,  have  had 
to  shut  their  factories  for  lack  of  cash  "to  pay  the 
hands" — though  they  had  all  but  gilt-edge  collateral  : 

"The  monetary  function  has  to  do  solely  with  exchanges 
of  goods  ;  it  hasn't  anything  to  do  with  their  production." 

The  Washington  "  Currency  Reformers." 

In  finishing  this  bird's-eye  view  of  the  financial   history 

of  this  country,  a  brief  review  of  the  current  financial  plans 

cannot   well   be  avoided.      It  may  be  said  of  them,    in  a 

general  way,    that    no    other    set    of   robbers    ever    before 


336  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

attempted  to  secure  a  law  guaranteeing  them  unrestricted 
right  to  plunder  with  unlimited  government  protection. 
The  out  and  out  black-flag  pirates,  as  represented  by 
Walker  of  Massachusetts,  have  a  plan  as  simple  and 
explicit  as  a  patent  medicine.  It  runs  thus  :  "  Retire  the 
greenbacks,  kill  silver  once  for  all,  and  let  the  bankers 
manage  the  currency."  This  obsolete  idea,  that  banks 
should  issue  money,  is  showing  all  the  vim  of  a  death 
struggle.  But  a  thousand  columns  of  speeches  in  the 
Congressional  Globe  on  the  safety  of  the  national  bank  system 
are  answered  by  this  solitary  fact :  In  the  year  1893,  three 
hundred  and  sixty  banks  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  owing 
$125,000,000,  went  to  smash,  and  about  a  dozen  bankers 
are  now  in  prison  or  exile,  while  many  more  escaped  as  by 
fire. 

THE  BALTIMORE  PLAN,  which  a  while  ago  had  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Comptroller,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  the 
President,  is,  in  a  word,  a  scheme  for  issuing  circulating 
notes  by  both  national  and  State  banks,  otherwise  than 
upon  the  pledge  of  government  bonds  as  now.  The  banks 
are  to  issue  notes  upon  their  own  assets,  supplemented  by 
a  deposit  of  a  certain  amount  of  greenbacks,  as  a  safety 
and  redemption  fund.  The  theory  of  this  plan  is  that 
when  any  special  demand  for  currency  arises  the  banks 
will  make  a  special  issue  of  notes  to  supply  it  ;  and  that  as 
soon  as  this  demand  ceases  the  banks  will  retire  the  notes 
it  has  called  out.  Thus  the  quantity  of  currency  available 
will,  it  is  assumed,  never  be  either  deficient  or  excessive  ; 
and  there  will  never  be  at  any  point  either  a  monetary 
stringency  or  a  monetary  plethora.  Were  the  function  of 
currency  exclusively  that  of  facilitating  exchanges,  such  a 
system  (like  that  of  3-65  interconvertible  bonds)  might  be 
useful.  But  currency  serves  the  additional  purpose  of 
measuring  the  price  of  commodities  ;  and  since  its  relation 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL  HISTORY. 


337 


to  those  commodities  is  determined  by  its  volume,  any 
change  of  its  volume  changes  its  value  also,  and  conse- 
quently impairs  its  stability  as  a  measure  of  prices. 

Again,  as  to  the  State  bank  feature  of  the  Baltimore 
plan,  the  idea  prevails  extensively  in  the  agricultural 
districts  of  the  West  and  South  that  the  chief  business  of 
a  bank  is  to  lend  money  to  borrowers.  That  is  why  they 
clamor  for  the  removal  of  the  ten  per  cent,  tax  on  State 
banks.  An  abundance  of  greenbacks  and  silver  would  do 
away  with  most  of  the  need  of  borrowing  from  banks. 
That's  what's  the  matter  with  the  banks. 

No  further  mention  is  needed  here  of  the  schemes  of 
Carlisle,  Springer,  Vest  and  others.  They  seem  all  dead 
at  this  writing,  and  they  certainly  should  be  damned. 
Even  the  New  York  Tribune,  a  monopolists'  own,  says  of 
one  of  the  safety -fund  schemes: 

"The  bankers  are  to  have  free  issue  ;  and  when  one  fails 
the  government  is  to  collect  from  the  other  banks  and 
redeem  its  currency.  But  in  time  of  panic  the  government 
would  not  and  could  not  do  that." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  New  York  Sun,  edited  by  a  man 
who  was  a  radical  socialist  in  his  youth,  and  now  a  bitter 
hardened,  cruel  cynic,  although  lately  a  Greenback  paper, 
is  as  rabid  as  the  New  York  Evening  Post  in  advocacy  of 
gold  and  gold  only.  It  says  of  the  latest  safety-fund 
humbug  : 

"The  new  bill,  like  the  old  one,  authorizes  an  inflation 
of  our  paper  currency,  by  at  least  $550,000,000,  without 
providing  for  its  redemption  in  gold,  and  without  any 
effectual  provision  for  diminishing  the  volume  of  outstand- 
ing legal  tender.  Our  New  York  financial  magnates,  who 
have  put  up,  this  year,  $116,000,000  in  gold,  to  save  the 
treasury  from  suspending  gold  payments,  ought  to  bestir  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  this  latest  administration  folly,  if 
thry  would  not  see  all  their  efforts  go  for  naught  and  the 


338  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

catastrophe  which  they  have  labored  to  avert  rendered 
inevitable."  [!!] 

In  Chicago  we  have  Lyman  Gage's  plan.  Mr.  Gage  is 
a  man  of  intellect  who  resembles  some  of  those  orthodox 
clergymen  who,  by  a  long  course  of  theological  dissipa- 
tion, i.  e.,  reasoning  from  false  premises,  have  impaired 
their  naturally  fine  faculties.  Mr.  Gage,  if  we  must  credit 
him  with  sincerity,  has  come  to  the  same  condition  by 
financial  dissipation.  But  his  plan  is  not  as  vicious  as 
some.  To  furnish  the  needed  foundation  for  national  bank 
circulation  he  would  have  the  treasury  issue  $250,000,000 
of  2*^  per  cent,  bonds,  for  which  greenbacks  or  Sherman 
notes  should  be  paid.  The  money  paid  would  not  become 
an  asset  of  the  government.  It  would  be  canceled, 
destroyed,  burned  up.  Of  his  scheme  the  Chicago  Times 
well  says : 

"Like  other  bankers,  he  thinks  the  chief  end  to  be 
sought  is  to  relieve  the  government  of  the  duty  of  issuing 
the  circulating  medium  of  the  country.  Upon  this  point 
we  must  note  an  emphatic  disagreement  with  Mr.  Gage, 
and  with  the  whole  school  of  financiers  of  which  he  is  a 
type." 

A  specimen  of  the  demoralization  and  danger  of  the 
times  is  seen  in  a  recent  statement  of  Senator  Gorman, 
that  he  and  Quay  had  settled  in  their  minds  that  a  certain 
government  bond  scheme,  like  that  of  Mr..  Gage,  in  eight 
items,  including  some  about  silver,  was  about  the  only 
proposition  that  could  pass  the  present  Congress.  No.  3 
among  the  eight  items  coolly  dismisses  the  greenback 
thus:  "The  legal  tenders  to  be  retired  and  canceled  as 
the  bonds  are  put  out." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  which  is 
repenting  of  some  of  its  financial  sins,  and  remembering 
what  a  good  Greenback  paper  it  was  in  1878,  says : 

"One  of  the  perils  of  the  present  financial  situation  is 


AMERICAN  FINANCIAL  HISTORY. 


339 


the  disposition  shown  to  reopen  the  greenback  question. 
It  took  fifteen  years  to  fight  the  great  battle.  Secretary 
McCulloch  attempted  to  take  snap  judgment  against  legal- 
tender  notes,  paying  them  off  at  a  rapid  rate.  Illinois, 
through  one  of  its  Congressmen,  E.  C.  Ingersoll,  stepped 
in  the  very  first  day  Congress  convened  after  that  paying- 
off  process  had  begun  with  a  resolution  which  stopped  it. 
Then  began  the  intriguing  of  the  Eastern  bankers  to 
destroy  the  greenbacks,  and  when  the  last  decisive  conflict 
occurred  Illinois  was  again  in  the  leadership,  G.  L.  Fort 
being  the  especial  champion  of  the  greenback  cause  as 
against  both  the  contractionists  and  the  expansionists. 
There  was  a  great  victory.  For  half  a  generation  the  anti- 
greenbackers  have  been  quiescent.  They  have  come  to 
the  front  again  with  this  session  of  Congress.  The  knock- 
out received  in  caucus  Monday  ought  to  satisfy  them  that 
the  greenback  is  here  to  stay.  There  never  could  be  a 
better  money.  It  is  good  for  its  face  the  world  over.  In 
that  uttermost  end  of  the  earth,  China  or  Japan,  the  United 
States  legal-tender  note  is  good  for  its  face  value,  and, 
whatever  changes  are  made,  that  part  of  our  currency 
should  remain  intact.  Should  the  current  of  Congressional 
events  occasion  a  show  of  hands  in  the  Republican  party 
on  this  question,  no  doubt  an  overwhelming  majority 
would  say,  as  did  the  Democratic  caucus,  let  the  green- 
backs alone. " 

An  extraordinary  scene  in  the  House  between  Rep- 
resentatives Hepburn  and  Hendrix  so  fairly  illustrates  the 
muddled  stupidity  and  impudence  of  the  gold-bugs  that  it 
deserves  notice  here  as  a  sign  of  the  situation.  Mr.  Hep- 
burn described  Mr.  Hendrix  as  a  self-heralded  national 
banker,  who  came  here  with  oracular  utterances  to  tell  the 
House  what  to  do.  Mr.  Hepburn  said  his  self-laudation 
was  impaired  by  the  recollection  of  his  speech  sixteen 
months  ago,  when  the  same  conditions  existed.  Mr. 
Hendrix  then  found  the  panacea  for  all  financial  ills  in  the 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  silver  law. 

Before  describing  this  discussion,   attention   should   be 


34° 


DAY  PROBLEMS. 


called  to  the  fact  that  the  panic  of  1893  was  immediately 
brought  on  by  the  bankers  because  Secretary  Carlisle 
undertook  to  perform  about  the  only  good  deed  he  has 
ventured  upon  as  Secretary,  /.  e. ,  to  pay  the  Sherman 
treasury  notes  according  to  the  letter  of  the  act  of  July  14, 
1890,  in  silver,  just  as  France  -would  have  done.  Now  mark 
how  Hendrix  "opened  his  mouth  and  put  his  foot  in  it," 
and  how,  finally,  Hepburn  tripped  him. 

Mr.  Hendrix  described  at  some  length  the  process  by 
which  the  gold  was  withdrawn  by  speculators  for  shipment 
abroad,  and  then  proceeded  to  contrast  this  with  the 
situation  in  France,  where  the  Bank  of  France  refused  to 
pay,  except  where  actually  necessary,  more  than  five  per 
cent,  of  gold  on  its  demand  obligations.  These  aggressions 
on  our  gold  reserve  must  be  stopped,  and  if  the  pending 
bill  would  stop  them,  afford  relief,  take  the  government 
out  of  the  banking  business,  as  it  has  been  taken  out  of 
the  silver  business,  he  would  vote  for  it. 

"Does  the  action  of  the  Bank  of  France,  in  refusing  to 
pay  more  than  five  per  cent,  in  gold,"  asked  Mr.  Hepburn, 
"impair  the  credit  of  that  bank?  " 

"No." 

"Then  would  the  credit  of  the  United  States  be 
impaired  if  the  United  States  should  exercise  its  discretion 
and  redeem  the  Sherman  notes  in  silver?" 

"Yes,  I  believe  it  would  at  this  time,"  replied  Mr. 
Hendrix. 

"Why?" 

"Because  of  the  general  distrust  of  the  government's 
ability  to  pay  in  gold.  One  hundred  and  fifty-nine  million 
dollars  of  Sherman  gold  promises  [?]  to  pay  cannot  be  met 
without  gold." 

"But  the  notes  are  redeemable  in  coin,  not  in  gold," 
was  Mr.  Hepburn's  parting  shot. 


iA'/r.-/.r  /•y.v.i.vc/  if.  HISTORY.  341 

Mr.  Hepburn  declared  that  Mr.  Hendrix  had  pointed 
out  unwittingly  the  remedy  for  the  present  evil  when  he 
told  the  House  that  the  great  banking  houses  of  Europe 
exercised  their  discretion  about  depleting  their  gold  vaults. 
"  Why  will  not  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  exercise  the 
same  discretion?"  he  asked,  amid  a  round  of  applause. 
"The  exercise  of  this  discretion  did  not  impair  the  credit 
of  European  banks.  Who  dared  to  say  that  the  credit  of 
this  country,  with  65,000,000  people  behind  it,  and  an 
unlimited  taxing  power,  would  be  impaired  because  it 
refused  to  kneel  at  the  demands  of  the  Shylocks?" 

"Why  have  not  the  Republican  Secretaries  of  the 
Treasury  exercised  that  discretion?"  asked  Mr.  Pence  of 
Colorado. 

"I  have  not  been  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,"  replied 
Mr.  Hepburn  hotly.  "When  I  am  I  will  answer.  I  am 
as  fully  convinced,  however,  as  I  am  that  I  am  alive,  that 
if  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  were  now  to  exercise  his 
discretion  and  pay  gold  when  legitimate  redemptions  were 
asked,  and  refuse  it  to  sharks  and  speculators,  the  evils 
from  which  we  suffer  would  cease  to  be." 

A  broader  view  is  that  the  prime  motive  of  the  Secretary 
in  exercising  his  discretion  should  be  the  welfare  of  the 
government ;  and  gold  should  be  refused  where  its  pay- 
ment is  likely  to  hurt  the  treasury. 


IN  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  attempted  to  give  such  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  American  money  and  finance  as  would 
serve  as  an  example  and  warning  for  the  future.  We 
behold  in  this  short  story  how  our  finances  were  con- 
tinually run  upon  the  rocks  and  shoals  of  a  false  "political 
economy,"  so-called,  and  how  they  were  occasionally 
pulled  off — though  remaining  most  of  the  time  stuck  fast 
in  the  most  dismal  way. 


342 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


As  to  the  general  aspects  of  the  money  question  this  is 
added : 

Our  financial  kings  have  kept  two  purposes  in  view. 
First:  To  have  our  money  issued  by  and  for  the  special 
use  of  private  institutions  called  banks  ;  and  to  have  this 
money  scant)'  in  quantity  and  of  fluctuating  value.  Second: 
To  issue,  foster  and  maintain,  by  all  possible  means,  bonds 
and  other  interest-bearing  obligations,  as  the  most  con- 
venient means  of  transferring  to  the  few  the  product  of  the 
industry  of  the  many. 

To  maintain  these  humbugs,  they  use  learned  language, 
like  doctors  writing  prescriptions  in  Latin.  All  the  expert 
handlers  of  money,  stocks,  etc.,  hate  nothing  so  much  as 
that  which  is  best  for  the  other  classes,  viz.,  steady  values. 
Their  delight  is  in  ups  and  downs;  and  then,  if  specula- 
tors, their  effort  is  to  be  on  the  winning  side.  With 
brokers,  every  change  is  profitable.  With  them  it  is: 
"Heads  I  win,  tails  you  lose."  Copernicus  said  of  the 
work  of  these  traitors:  "It  is  not  by  a  blow,  but  little  by 
little,  and  through  a  secret  and  obscure  approach,  that  it 
destroys  the  state."  Further  back  in  the  ages  Plato, 
Lycurgus  and  Solon  saw  this  most  plainly. 

The  new  American  system  of  money  is  plainly  and 
briefly  this  :  Abundant  government  fiat  paper  money — 
founded  upon  the  wealth  and  credit  of  a  great,  stable 
nation  ;  such  money  to  to  be  kept  at  a  steady  purchasing 
power  by  the  increase  and  decrease  of  its  volume;  and  to 
be  quite  void  of  intrinsic  value,  and  quite  free  from  par- 
ticular commodities  as  bases  for  the  monetary  units. 

For  the  present  we  wish  free  coinage  of  gold  and  silver 
at  16  to  i.  The  ultimate  of  gold  and  silver  will  probably 
be  free  coinage  for  all  who  bring  them  to  the  mints,  into 
suitable  coins  stamped  with  their  weight  and  fineness,  and 
returned  to  the  owners  to  be  used  as  they  choose.  And 


AMKRJC.-LV  FINANCIAL  HISTOR\  . 

no  one  will  lie  awake  nights  for  fear  the  metals  will  go 
abroad. 

When  we  get  that  "  honest "  fiat  paper  dollar,  nothing 
will  call  for  an  extra  session  of  Congress  quicker  than  any 
prospect  of  a  change  in  its  purchasing  power,  after  we 
have  once  got  it  to  a  generally  satisfactory  point,  say  about 
the  buying  power  of  our  dollar  in  1866.  While  any  kind 
of  a  change,  up  or  down,  suits  many  gamblers  and  specu- 
lators, the  steady  increase  in  the  buying  power  of  the 
dollar,  for  thirty  years  past,  has  been  destroying  the  pro- 
ducers of  this  country  and  largely  creating  the  pestiferous 
breed  of  millionaires. 

The  bulk  of  our  money  wars  have  been  crowded  into 
the  past  thirty  years.  We  might  call  them  "Our  Thirty 
Years'  War."  Its  history  has  been  utterly,  wofully  and 
willfully  misrepresented  by  such  pseudo-historians  as 
Sumner  of  Yale  and  David  A.  Wells. 

Those  years  nearly  cover  the  great  and  little  panics  of 
1837,  '47,  '57,  '60,  '73,  '84,  '85,  '90  and  '93.  Vast  tomes 
might  be  written  concerning  the  manifold  causes.  One 
cause  has  always  been  foremost  in  them — scarcity  of  legal- 
tender  money. 

At  times  our  rulers  have  tried  to  deceive  us  by  a  great 
show  of  abundant  currency.  Such  were  the  fifteen  kinds 
of  money  thrust  upon  the  nation  to  confuse  it  during  the 
civil  war,  by  McCulloch  and  Sherman. 

Why  need  we  here  repeat  the  many-times-told  tales  of 
the  craft  of  the  national  banks,  demonetization  of  silver, 
the  mystery  and  raised  value  of  gold,  Rothschild  tricks, 
the  control  of  our  finances  and  politics  by  Europe,  and  the 
gradual  merging  of  the  gold  Democrats  and  Republicans 
into  practically  one  party? 

The  bankers'  rebellion  of  1881,  which  conquered  Presi- 
dent Hayes.  The  whirling  of  stock  values  up  two  billions 


344 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


then  and  down  again  in  1883.  The  deluge  of  trusts  and 
syndicates  in  full  tide  in  1887.  The  bogus  silver  bill  of 
1890.  Cleveland's  object-lesson  of  ruin  and  misery  in 
1893.  The  counting  out  of  victorious  Bryan  in  1896. 
And  now  the  ghostly  attempt  to  bring  prosperity  by  tariff 
bills  and  Lyman  Gage  "currency  reform,"  while  millions 
of  deceived,  disappointed,  dazed,  discouraged,  almost 
maddened  Americans  suffer  all  the  tortures  of  poverty. 
And  the  end  is  not  yet. 


IV. 

THE   EIGHT  MONEY  CONSPIRACIES. 

"When    I   stand    in   the  United    States   Treasury,   I   stand  on 
English  soil." — NATHANIEL  P.  BANKS. 

44  TJUGH  McCULLOCH  hamstrung  the  whole  na- 
tion. His  management  of  the  finances,  while 
it  enriched  him  and  made  him  a  great  London 
banker,  has  cost  the  American  people  more  than  the  war 
did."  These  words  were  uttered  by  Hon.  William  D. 
Kelley,  and  they  are  "true  as  gospel.  They  would  be 
equally  true  if  the  name  of  John  Sherman  were  substituted 
for  that  of  Hugh  McCulloch. 

That  the  constant  aim  and  object  of  the  manipulators  of 
our  financial  legislation  since  the  war  has  been  to  contract 
the  currency  and  to  burden  the  people  with  interest-bear- 
ing debt,  thereby  enriching  the  usurers  and  impoverishing 
the  producing  classes,  is  evidenced  in  the  following  brief 
summary  of  the  eight  principal  enactments  affecting  money 
which  passed  Congress  since  1861  : 

i.  The  Exception  Clause.  (Feb.  25,  1862.)  In  1861 
and  1862  demand  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  $60,000,- 
ooo  were  issued  by  the  government  and  made  legal-tender 
money  for  all  debts,  public  and  private — equal  to  coin. 
Wall  Street  could  not  gamble  in  legal-tender  paper  money  ; 
so,  as  soon  as  the  legal-tender  act  passed  the  House  and 
was  sent  to  the  Senate,  the  Shylocks  placed  on  the  green- 
back what  is  known  as  the  "exception  clause" — "Except 
duties  on  imports  and  interest  on  the  public  debt."  This 
practically  demonetized  the  United  States  treasurj'  note, 

345 


346  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

and  cost  the  producing  classes  millions  of  dollars.  The 
greenback  "went  down,"  or,  more  correctly  speaking,  gold 
"went  up,"  until  $i  in  paper  money  was  valued  at  only 
37  cents  when  campared  with  gold.  John  Sherman  said  : 
"We  purposely  depreciated  the  greenback,  to  get  sale  for 
our  bonds. "  He  was  willing  to  destroy  the  people's  money 
to  appease  the  greed  of  gold  gamblers  at  home  and  abroad. 

2.  The  National  Bank  Act.  (Feb.  25,  1863.)  This 
scheme  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  and  advocated  by 
John  Sherman  in  the  interest  of  bondholders  and  capital- 
ists, just  one  year  after  legal-tender  notes  were  authorized 
by  law,  and  before  sufficient  time  had  been  given  to  test 
their  utility.  The  express  object  was  to  have  the  bank 
notes  supersede  the  legal-tender  notes,  after  the  invest- 
ment of  legal  tenders  in  bonds. 

"I  look  upon  the  national  bank,  as  now  recognized  by 
law,"  says  Myers  in  his  "Money,  Its  History  and  Func- 
tions," "as  one  of  the  most  gigantic  schemes  for  robbing 
the  people  ever  devised  by  man.  I  cannot  conceive  of  a 
single  reason  for  perpetuating  the  system  one  day  beyond 
the  time  required  to  settle  its  affairs.  The  national  banks 
of  this  country  have  cost  the  people,  in  thirty  years  of 
their  existence,  over  $6,000,000,000.  The  credit  which 
the  banker  sells  at  from  7  to  15  per  cent,  costs  him  only 
i  per  cent,  on  actual  circulation ;  hence  it  is  virtually  a 
present  to  him.  He  draws  interest  on  this  credit ;  on  what 
he  himself  owes.  His  note  is  not  money,  nor  is  it  in  any 
sense  a  legal  tender  between  man  and  man.  It  is  simply  a 
'promise  to  pay.'  The  banker  lends  his  credit,  witli  which 
lie  has  supplied  himself  by  gift  from  the  government,  and 
the  borrower  pledges  his  wealth;  the  banker  being  far  more 
secure  than  the  holder  of  the  banker's  paper.  The  banker 
takes  pay  for  something  he  does  not  furnish  ;  for  the  cap- 
ital (wealth)  is  furnished  by  the  borrower.  So  the  banker 


THE  EIGHT  MONEY  CONSPIRACIES.  34.7 

gets  something  for  nothing,  and  the  borrower  pays  for  that 
which  he  never  receives." 

Banks  are  run  on  the  deposits,  rather  than  on  any  capital 
the  banker  himself  may  have.  The  patrons  of  the  bank 
furnish  the  capital,  and  also  the  security,,  The  banker 
lends  other  people's  money  to  other  people;  on  this  he 
draws  interest ;  he  conducts  his  business  on  your  money 
and  his  credit,  which  you  furnish  him. 

Now,  if  the  government  can  afford  to  let  the  banker  have 
credit  at  I  per  cent,  on  actual  circulation,  why  can't  the 
treasury  supply  all  the  people  with  legal-tender  money  at 
the  same  rate?  Why  not  issue  the  money  direct  to  the 
people  and  then  pay  interest  into  the  United  States  treas- 
ury, instead  of  into  the  coffers  of  corporate  institutions? 
National  banks  are  expensive  luxuries  which  we  don't 
need.  So  let  the  people  unite  in  demanding  their  abolition 
at  once,  and  then  institute'  in  their  stead  United  States 
banks,  sub-treasuries  if  you  please,  backed  by  all  the 
people,  and  hence  absolutely  safe.  This  would  make  a 
government  for  the  people,  instead  of  for  the  corporations. 
Let  us  do  business  on  the  credit  of  the  people — on  the 
credit  of  the  government ;  not,  as  we  are  now  doing,  on 
the  credit  of  banks  and  bankers. 

3.  The  Funding  Act.  (April  12,  1866.)  Commonly 
called  contraction.  This  law  authorized  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  retire  the  legal-tender  notes  by  investing 
them  in  6  per  cent,  bonds.  Contraction  continued  until 
some  $1,500,000,000  were  destroyed,  and  a  corresponding 
amount  of  6  per  cent,  bonds  issued.  The  treasury  notes, 
or  legal  tenders,  were  nearly  all  non-interest-bearing. 
This  reduction  of  the  currency  was  an  outrage  upon 
the  people.  The  volume  should  have  been  increased 
to  keep  pace  with  an  increasing  population.  But  Shylock 
must  have  interest. 


348  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

4.  The  Credit-Strengthening  Act.    (March  18,  1869.) 
This    law  provided    that   the    legal-tender   treasury  notes 
be  paid    in  coin,   as   also  all  interest-bearing   obligations 
of    the    government.      Prior   to    the    passage    of  this    law 
public  obligations  had  been  payable  in  the  lawful  money  of 
the  country;  the  greenback  was  lawful  money,  redeemable 
the  same  as  gold  and  silver  coin,  except  duties  on  imports 
and  interest  on  the  public  debt.     The  credit  of  the  nation 
was  good,   and  needed  no  strengthening.     The  war  was 
over,  and  the  country  was  prosperous  and  the  people  con- 
tented.    Why,  then,  add  another  burden? 

5.  An  Act  Refunding  the  Public  Debt.     (July  14, 
1870.)     This  act  authorized  the  issue  and  sale  of  $1,500,- 
000,000  United  States  bonds,   to  refund  5-20   bonds  and 
make  them  conform  to  the  law  of  1860.     To  fund  means  to 
put  public  obligatious  into  stocks  and  securities,  making 
them  interest-bearing. 

The  public  debt  should  have  been  paid,  as  at  first  pro- 
vided, in  the  lawful  currency  of  the  country,  gold,  silver 
and  treasury  notes.  The  law  of  1869  added  $500,000,000 
to  the  5-20  bonds,  by  making  them  payable  in  coin;  then 
to  refund  the  bonds,  just  to  please  English  Shylocks, 
is  villainy  unnamed  and  unnamable. 

6.  The  Demonetization  of  Silver.     (Feb.  12,  1873.) 
The  act  of  1869  had  made  all  public  obligations  payable  in 
coin,   gold  or  silver;  while  the  act  of  1873,  clandestinely 
passed,  by  omitting  the  silver  dollar  from  the  list  of  coins 
enumerated,    practically    demonetized    silver,   making  the 
public  debt,  interest  and  all,  as  well  as  the  paper  currency, 
payable  in  gold  coin — a  further  contraction  of  the  volume  of 
currency. 

The  silver  dollar  was  created  by  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  on  April  2,  1792,  and  made  the  unit  of  value. 
It  contains  412^  grains  of  standard  silver,  nine  parts  pure 


THE  EIGHT  MONEY  CONSPIRACIES. 


349 


silver,  one  part  alloy.  At  that  time  the  mints  of  all  the 
principal  nations  of  the  world  were  open  to  the  free  coin- 
age of  both  gold  and  silver.  That  is,  all  of  such  metal 
presented  to  the  mints  could  be  converted  into  money 
without  any  charge  except  the  actual  cost  of  coining.  The 
ratio  then  was  about  i$/4  to  i  ;  that  is,  one  ounce  of  gold 
was  equal  to  15^2  ounces  of  silver.  January  18,  1837,  the 
ratio  between  gold  and  silver  coins  of  the  United  States 
was  changed  to  15.988  to  i,  commonly  referred  to  as 
16  to  i. 

The  act  demonetizing  silver  was  understood  by  few,  and, 
in  fact,  many  of  those  who  voted  for  it,  and  President  Grant, 
who  signed  the  bill,  were  unaware  of  its  actual  meaning  and 
effect.  The  money  speculators  of  England,  backed  by 
cupidity  and  ignorance  on  this  side,  were  its  real  instigators. 
There  was  every  reason  in  the  world  why  England  should 
desire  the  demonetization  of  silver  here.  She  is  a  creditor 
nation,  and  her  capitalists  hold  vast  amounts  in  government 
and  other  securities  abroad.  From  this  country  alone  the 
capitalists  of  Great  Britain  derive  each  year  more  than  five 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  for  interest  on  their  invest- 
ments, all  of  which  is  paid  in  gold  or  its  equivalent.  The 
United  States  produces  an  enormous  quantity  of  silver, 
but  we  very  humbly  sibmit  to  the  gold  standard  as  set  up 
by  Great  Britain.  We  deny  ourselves  the  right  to  use  a 
metal  of  which  we  have  an  abundance  and  adopt  one  more 
scarce  and,  consequently,  more  expensive.  By  this  policy 
we  are  forced  to  purchase  gold  abroad,  thus  adding  con- 
stantly to  the  burden  of  a  perpetual,  interest-bearing 
national  debt. 

By  accomplishing  the  demonetization  of  silver  in  this 
country,  England  gained  a  double  victory,  for  the  govern- 
ments of  the  Latin  Union,  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  Switz- 
erland and  Greece,  were  soon  afterward  forced  to  suspend 


350  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

silver  coinage.  The  gain  to  England  and  the  loss  to  the 
other  countries  involved,  especially  to  the  United  States, 
by  this  general  demonetization  of  silver,  can  hardly  be 
estimated.  The  loss,  of  course,  was  the  heaviest  in  this 
country,  where  the  production  of  silver  is  very  large, 
where  so  many  are  engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
where  a  large  and  freely  circulating  volume  of  money  is  so 
essential  to  commercial  activity. 

Before  silver  was  demonetized,  we  were  under  the  burden 
of  an  enormous  national  debt,  but  every  dollar  of  this  was 
payable  in  silver.  The  stimulated  demand  for  gold,  and, 
consequently,  its  increase  in  value,  was  not  the  only  gain 
to  England.  She  now  buys  our  cheap  silver  bullion, 
exchanges  it  at  its  coinage  value  for  products  in  the  silver- 
using  countries  of  Asia,  Africa  and  South  America,  and 
nets  a  profit  of  over  one  hundred  per  cent,  by  the  transac- 
tion. We  then  buy  from  her  at  gold  prices  and  pay  with 
gold  or  products  at  prices  which,  by  forcing  us  into  com- 
petition with  the  world,  England  fixes  herself. 

7.  The  Resumption  of  Specie  Payment.     (January 
14,  1875.)     This  law  provided  for  the  retirement  of  the 
fractional   currency    ($45,000,000)    and    the    legal-tender 
treasury  notes,    their  places  to  be  supplied    by  national 
bank  notes,  which  are  not  a  legal  tender  between  man  and 
man.     The  name  "specie  payment"  is  simply  a  blind  ;  it 
does  not  mean  anything ;  to  get  rid  of  the  much  despised 
greenback  was  the  real  object  of  the   act.     The  moneyed 
aristocracy  had  long  ago  confessed  their  inability  to  "con- 
trol" the  "greenback  as  it  is  called."     Had  the  provisions 
of  this  law  been  carried  out,  it  would  have  added  to  our 
annual  interest  charge  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 

8.  The  Sherman  Purchasing  Clause.  (July  14, 1890.) 
This  act  was  a  miserable  makeshift  or  substitute  for  a  free 
coinage   bill.     It  provided  for  the  purchase   of    not   less 


THE  EIGHT  MOXEY  CONSPIRACIES. 


351 


than  2,000,000  nor  more  than  4,500,000  ounces  of  silver 
bullion  per  month,  2,000,000  ounces  of  which  was  to  be 
coined  each  month  into  silver  dollars  until  July  i,  1891. 
Instead  of  redeeming  the  treasury  notes  issued  in  the  pur- 
chase of  silver  with  their  equivalent  in  silver,  upon  the 
demand  of  the  holder,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was 
required  to  redeem  these  notes  in  gold  or  silver  coin  at  his 
discretion.  The  legal-tender  power  of  the  silver  dollar 
was  modified  so  as  to  read:  "Except  otherwise  expressly 
stipulated  in  the  contract."  In  1893  President  Cleveland 
called  Congress  together  in  extraordinary  session  to  con- 
sider the  financial  condition  of  the  country.  November  i, 
1893,  the  Sherman  law  was  repealed,  leaving  us  on  a  single 
gold  basis. 


V. 
FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES. 

"Above  all  things  good  policy  is  to  be  used,  that  the  treasures 
and  money  of  the  state  be  not  gathered  into  a  few  hands ;  for, 
otherwise,  a  state  may  have  great  stock  and  yet  starve.  And 
money  is  like  muck,  not  good  unless  spread.  This  is  done  by  sup- 
pressing, or  at  least  keeping  a  strait  hand  upon  the  devouring  trade 
of  usury,  engrossing,  great  pasturages  and  the  like." — BACON. 

THE  following  is  a  carefully  prepared  collection  of 
quotations  from  the  writings  and  speeches  of  emi- 
nent statesmen,  jurists,  financiers  and  economists, 
ancient  and  modern,  foreign  and  American.  It  will  be 
found  not  only  interesting  and  instructive  to  the  casual 
reader,  but  of  extreme  value  to  the  student  for  reference : 

Alexander  Hamilton  (report  on  the  mint,  1791):  "To 
annul  the  use  of  either  of  the  metals  as  money  is  to  abridge 
the  quantity  of  the  circulating  medium.  It  is  liable  to  all 
the  objections  that  arise  from  a  comparison  of  the  benefits 
of  a  full  with  the  evils  of  a  scanty  circulation." 

Benjamin  Franklin,  April  3,  1792  (Jared  Sparks,  page 
255)  :  "Want  of  money  in  a  country  reduces  the  price  of 
that  part  of  its  products  which  is  used  in  trade.  A  plenti- 
ful currency  will  occasion  the  trading  produce  to  bear  a 
good  price." 

Page  185  of  his  autobiography  (speaking  of  his  pam- 
phlet on  "The  Nature  and  Necessity  of  a  Paper  Currency," 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  circulation):  "It  was 
well  received  by  the  common  people  in  general,  but  the 
rich  men  disliked  it,  for  it  increased  as  well  as  strength- 
ened the  clamor  for  more  money.  The  utility  of  this  cur- 
rency by  experience  became  so  evident  as  never  to  be 

352 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES. 


353 


much  disputed,  so  that  it  grew  soon  to  be  ,£55,000,  and 
in  1879  to  ^80,000,  since  which  it  rose  to  ,£350,000, 
trade,  buildings  and  inhabitants  all  the  while  increasing. " 

Daniel  Webster:  "A  contraction  of  the  currency,  even 
if  not  sudden,  contracts  business,  discourages  enterprise 
and  restrains  the  commercial  spirit.  A  sudden  contrac- 
tion aggravates  these  circumstances." 

Henry  Clay  (debate  on  the  sub-treasury,  1840):  "The 
proposed  substitution  of  an  exclusive  metallic  currency  to 
the  medium  with  which  we  have  been  so  long  familiar  is 
forbidden  by  the  principles  of  eternal  justice.  Assuming 
the  currency  of  the  country  to  consist  of  two-thirds  paper 
and  one  of  specie,  and  assuming,  also,  that  the  money  of 
a  countr)',  whatever  may  be  its  component  parts,  regulates 
all  values,  and  expresses  the  true  amount  which  the  debtor 
has  to  pay  his  creditor,  the  effect  of  the  change  upon  that 
relation,  and  upon  the  property  of  the  country,  would  be 
most  ruinous.  All  property  would  be  reduced  in  value  to 
one-third  of  its  present  nominal  amount,  and  every  debtor 
would,  in  effect,  have  to  pay  three  times  as  much  as  he 
had  contracted  for.  The  pressure  of  our  foreign  debt 
would  be  three  times  as  great  as  it  is,  while  the  six 
hundred  millions,  which  is  about  the  sum  now  probably 
due  to  the  banks  from  the  people,  would  be  multiplied  to 
eighteen  hundred  millions!  ...  A  man,  for  example, 
owning  property  to  the  value  of  $5,000,  contracts  a  debt 
of  $5,000.  By  the  reduction  of  one-half  of  the  currency 
of  the  country,  his  property  in  effect  becomes  reduced  to 
the  value  of  $2,500.  But  his  debt  undergoes  no  corre- 
sponding reduction.  .  .  .  But  if  the  effect  of  this  hard 
money  policy  upon  the  debtor  class  be  injurious,  it  is  still 
more  disastrous,  if  possible,  on  the  laboring  classes.  .  .  . 
Of  all  the  subjects  of  national  policy,  not  one  ought  to  be 
touched  with  so  much  delicacy  as  that  of  the  wages — in 


354 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


other  words,  the  bread — of  the  poor  man.  In  dwelling,  as 
I  have  often  done,  with  inexpressible  satisfaction,  upon  the 
many  advantages  of  our  country,  there  is  not  one  that  has 
given  me  more  delight  than  the  high  price  of  manual 
labor.  There  is  not  one  which  indicates  more  clearly  the 
prosperity  of  the  mass  of  the  community.  .  .  . 

"The  revulsions  of  1837  produced  a  far  greater  havoc  than 
was  experienced  in  the  period  above  mentioned.  The  ruin 
came  quick  and  fearful.  There  were  few  that  could  save 
themselves.  Property  of  every  description  was  parted 
with  at  sacrifices  that  were  astounding,  and  as  for  the  cur- 
rency, there  was  scarcely  any  at  all.  In  some  parts  of  the 
interior  of  Pennsylvania  the  people  were  obliged  to  divide 
bank  notes  into  halves,  quarters,  eighths,  and  so  on,  and 
agree  from  necessity  to  use  them  as  money.  In  Ohio, 
with  all  her  abundance,  it  was  hard  to  get  money  to  pay 
taxes.  The  sheriff  of  Muskingum  Count)',  as  stated  in  the 
Guernsey  Times,  in  the  summer  of  1842,  sold  at  auction 
one  four-horse  wagon  at  $5.50  ;  ten  hogs  at  6%  cents  each  ; 
two  horses  (said  to  be  worth  from  $50  to  $75  each)  at  $2 
each;  two  cows  at  $i  each;  a  barrel  of  sugar  at  $1.50, 
and  a  store  of  goods  at  that  rate.  In  Pike  County,  Missouri, 
as  stated  by  the  Hannibal  Journal,  the  sheriff  sold  three 
horses  at  $1.50  each;  one  large  ox  at  12^  cents;  five 
cows,  two  steers  and  one  calf,  the  lot  at  $3.25  ;  twenty  sheep 
at  13^4  cents  each;  twenty-four  hogs  for  25  cents  for  the 
lot;  one  eight-day  clock  at  $2.50  ;  a  lot  of  tobacco,  seven 
or  eight  hogsheads,  at  $5  ;  three  stacks  of  hay  at  25  cents 
each." 

Horace  Greeley  ("Political  Economy, "  page  65)  :  "They 
[false  economists]  assume  that  if  half  the  money  in  a 
country  leaves  it  for  goods  imported,  the  residue  will  per- 
form the  functions  previously  devolved  on  the  whole,  save 
only  that  there  will  be  a  general  reduction  of  prices.  I,  on 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES. 


355 


the  contrary,  issue  an  appeal  to  the  experience  of  man- 
kind to  sustain  me  that  in  such  cases  the  remainder,  so  far 
from  subserving  the  end  formerly  answered  by  the  larger 
volume  of  currency,  will  not  even  subserve  half  of  it,  for 
it  will  all  but  cease  to  circulate  at  all.  ...  In  its  absence 
the  people  will  quite  generally  be  driven  back  to  barter,  a 
discouragement  of  industry  and  a  long  stride  on  the  down- 
ward road  to  barbarism." 

Treasurer  Spinner  (that  portion  of  his  report  for  Decem- 
ber, 1873,  which  was  suppressed  by  President  Grant) : 
"When  .  .  .  legitimate  money  becomes  more  and  more 
abundant,  credits  are  asked  for  and  given  on  shorter  and 
shorter  time,  until  the  time  comes  when  there  is  money 
sufficient  to  transact  all  the  legitimate  business  and  to 
effect  all  necessary  exchanges  of  the  merchantable  com- 
modities of  the  country ;  then  private  credits  will  be 
almost  entirely  unknown,  as  will  commercial  revulsions 
and  consequent  panics.  .  .  .  Inflation  can  only  be  when 
the  people  are  excessively  in  debt.  Such  is  not  the 
position  when  money  is  plentiful ;  for  when  money  is 
plentiful  people  get  out  of  debt  and  acquire  habits  of 
promptness,  punctuality,  and  pay  as  they  go." 

George  S.  Coe  (  "Financial  History  of  the  War")  :  "As 
the  war  progressed  and  the  country  became  poorer,  the 
currency  increased.  It  is  strange  that  all  other  property 
was  eagerly  sought  for  in  preference  to  this,  and  that 
prodigal  expenditure  became  the  law  of  the  land." 

Report  of  George  S.  Coe,  John  J.  Knox,  James  Harsen 
Rhoadcs  and  W.  P.  St.  John  (committee  of  New  York 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  1891)  :  "The  enlarged  volume  [of 
legal-tender  money],  besides  disturbing  the  equitable 
relations  of  men  to  each  other,  at  once  adjusts  itself  to  the 
prices  of  all  commodities  and  relatively  enhances  their 
cost,  so  as  to  absorb  at  once  whatever  advances  their 


356  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

cost.  .  .  .  This  is  why  thoughtful  men  see  in  any  issue  of 
legal-tender  notes  the  way  to  inevitable  destruction." 

Robert  G.  Ingersoll :  "We  have  passed  through  a  period 
of  wonderful  and  unprecedented  inflation.  For  years  every 
kind  of  business  has  been  pressed  to  the  very  sky  line.  A 
wave  of  wealth  swept  over  the  United  States.  Tatters 
became  garments  and  garments  became  robes.  Walls 
were  covered  with  pictures,  floors  with  carpets,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  the  poor  tasted 
all  the  luxuries  of  wealth.  But  monopoly  changed  that 
paradise  into  hell  by  creating  a  money  famine." 

JohnJ.  Ingalls :  "No  people  in  a  great  emergency  ever 
found  a  faithful  ally  in  gold.  It  is  the  most  cowardly  and 
treacherous  of  all  metals.  It  makes  no  treaty  it  does  not 
break;  it  has  no  friend  it  does  not  sooner  or  later  betray. 
In  times  of  panic  and  calamity,  shipwreck  and  disaster,  it 
becomes  the  agent  and  minister  of  ruin.  No  nation  ever 
fought  a  great  war  by  the  aid  of  gold.  In  the  crisis  of  the 
greatest  peril  it  becomes  an  enemy  more  potent  than  the 
foe  in  the  field.  ...  In  our  own  civil  war  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  gold  of  New  York  and  London  did  not  work  us  greater 
injury  than  the  powder  and  lead  and  iron  of  the  rebels. 
It  was  the  most  invincible  enemy  of  the  public  credit.  It 
was  in  open  alliance  with  our  enemies  the  world  over,  and 
all  its  energies  were  evoked  for  our  destruction.  But,  as 
usual,  when  danger  has  been  averted  and  the  victory 
secured,  gold  swaggers  to  the  front  and  asserts  supremacy." 

Hugh  McCulloch,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ( 1 866) :  "The 
process  of  contracting  the  circulation  of  the  government 
notes  should  go  on  just  as  rapidly  as  possible  without  pro- 
ducing a  financial  crash." 

John  A.  L0gan(Feb.  17,1874):  "You  may  theorize  and 
argue  to  the  farmers  until  you  are  hoarse,  and  you  will  fail 
to  get  them  to  prefer  low  prices  to  high  ones  for  their 


FAVl.YC/AL  AUTHORITIES.  3^7 

products.  .  .  .  The  people  have  and  do  realize  that  their 
most  prosperous  times  were  when  currency  was  the  most 
plentiful.  .  .  . 

"I  can  see  the  people  of  our  Western  States,  who  are 
producers,  reduced  to  the  condition  of  serfs  to  pay  interest 
on  public  and  private  debts  to  the  money  sharks  of  Wall 
Street,  New  York,  and  of  Threadneedle  Steet  in  London, 
England.  And  this  will  be  accomplished  by  withdrawing 
the  treasury  notes  from  circulation,  and  destroying  them 
until  the  banks  can  control  the  entire  volume  of  money. 
.  .  .  It  was  the  contraction  and  increased  want  of  currency, 
and  not  a  superabundance,  which  produced  the  necessity 
for  running  in  debt. 

"Falling  prices  and  misery  and  destruction  are  insepara- 
ble companions.  The  disasters  of  the  dark  ages  were 
caused  by  decreasing  money  and  falling  prices.  With  the 
increase  of  money  labor  and  industry  gain  new  life. 

"I  can  see  benefit  only  to  the  money-holders  and  those 
who  receive  interest  and  have  fixed  incomes.  I  can  see, 
as  a  result  of  this  legislation,  our  business  operations 
crippled  and  wages  for  labor  reduced  to  a  mere  pittance. 
I  can  see  the  beautiful  prairies  of  my  own  State  and  of  the 
great  West,  which  are  blooming  as  gardens,  with  cheerful 
homes  rising  like  white  towers  along  the  pathway  of 
improvement,  again  sinking  back  to  idleness.  I  can  see 
mortgage  fiends  at  their  hellish  work.  I  can  seethe  hopes 
of  the  industrious  farmers  blasted  as  they  burn  corn  for 
fuel,  because  its  price  will  not  pay  the  cost  of  transportation 
and  dividends  on  millions  of  dollars  of  fictitious  railway 
stocks  and  bonds." 

Preston  B.  Plumb  (Senate,  April,  1880)  :  "The  contrac- 
tion of  the  currency  by  5  per  cent,  of  its  volume  means 
the  depreciation  of  the  property  of  the  country  three 
billions  of  dollars." 


358  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

The  Chicago  Tribune  (1878):  ''Straight  along  for  four 
and  a  half  years  the  dollar  has  grown  dearer  and  larger, 
the  debts  heavier  and  harder  to  pay,  and  the  value  of 
property  has  withered ;  business  has  been  done  at  a  con- 
tinual loss.  Real  estate — lands,  lots  and  improvements, 
the  foundation  of  all  wealth — has  gone  down  year  after 
year  in  value,  while  the  mortgages  have  devoured  it,  wiping 
out  equities  and  all  that  had  been  paid  thereon,  and 
annihilating  multitudes  of  fortunes." 

President  Grant  (message,  1870):  "Immediate  resump- 
tion, if  practicable,  is  not  desirable.  It  would  compel  the 
debtor  class  to  pay  beyond  their  contracts  the  premium  on 
gold  at  the  date  of  their  purchase  and  would  bring  bank- 
ruptcy and  ruin  to  thousands." 

Message  of  1873:  "The  experience  of  the  present 
panic  has  proven  that  the  currency  of  the  country,  based 
as  it  is  upon  its  credit,  is  the  best  that  has  ever  been 
devised. 

"To  increase  our  exports,  sufficient  currency  is  required 
to  keep  ail  the  industries  of  the  country  employed. 
Without  this,  national  as  well  as  individual  bankruptcy 
must  ensue.  .  .  . 

"Prices  keep  pace  with  the  volume  of  money." 
John  Sherman  (1869):  "The  contraction  of  the  cur- 
rency is  a  far  more  distressing  thing  than  Senators  sup- 
pose. Our  own  and  other  nations  have  gone  through  that 
process  before.  It  is  not  possible  to  take  that  voyage 
without  the  sorest  distress.  To  every  person  except  a 
capitalist  out  of  debt  it  is  a  period  of  loss,  of  danger, 
lassitude  of  trade,  fall  of  wages,  suspension  of  enterprise, 
bankruptcy  and  disaster." 

William  D.  Kelley  (House  of  Representatives,  Jan.  3, 
1867):  "The  experiment  [on  contracting  the  currency], 
if  attempted  as  a  means  of  hastening  specie  payments,  will 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  359 

prove  a  failure,  but  not  a  harmless  one.  It  will  be  fatal  to 
the  prospects  of  a  majority  of  the  business  men  of  this 
generation,  and  strip  the  frugal  laboring  people  of  the 
country  of  the  small  but  hard-earned  sums  they  have 
deposited  in  savings  banks.  It  will  make  money  scarce 
and  employment  uncertain.  It  will  increase  the  purchas- 
ing power  of  money,  and  by  thus  unsettling  values  will 
paralyze  trade,  suspend  production  and  deprive  industry  of 
employment.  It  will  make  the  money  of  the  rich  man 
more  valuable  and  deprive  the  poor  man  of  his  entire 
capital,  the  value  of  his  labor,  by  depriving  him  of  employ- 
ment. Its  final  effect  will  be  widespread  bankruptcy." 

Toledo  Blade  (May  17,  1877)  :  "In  financial  crises  the 
thing  men  want  is  money ;  that  which  everybody  must 
receive  in  payment  of  debt  or  forever  thereafter  forego  all 
claim  of  interest  thereon.  What  men  want  in  such  seasons 
of  panic  and  distress  is  that  which  will  pay  a  note  in  a 
bank,  will  meet  the  exactions  of  government,  will  avert 
the  sacrifice  of  homestead,  warehouse  or  other  property  by 
sheriff's  or  marshal's  sale  ;  which,  being  money,  will,  when 
tendered  in  payment,  arrest  such  proceedings.  .  .  .  The 
existence  and  inflexibility  of  the  law  are  indisputable.  If 
the  volume  of  money  is  increased  creditors  complain  that 
the  prices  of  commodities  are  further  enhanced." 

George  William  Curtis  (Harper's  Weekly,  July,  1877): 
"There  can  be  no  doubt  that  as  the  volume  of  money 
decreases  the  purchasing  power  increases.  ...  It  is 
unquestionably  true  that  it  is  a  maxim  of  money  that  the 
increase  of  its  volume  decreases  and  the  decrease  increases 
the  purchasing  power  of  the  unit.  ...  It  may  be  a  fair 
question  whether  the  demonetization  of  silver  did  not 
increase  the  value  of  gold." 

Thomas  Ewing  (November  22,  1877):  "No  greater 
wrong  can  be  inflicted  on  the  people  by  government  than 


360  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

a  contraction  of  the  volume  of  the  currency.  The  prices 
of  commodities,  whether  land,  product  or  labor,  are  deter- 
mined absolutely  by  the  effective  volume  of  the  currency. 
An  increase  of  the  volume  raises  the  price  of  com- 
modities." 

James  G.  Blaine  (House,  February  7,  1878):  "The 
destruction  of  silver  as  money  and  establishing  gold  as  the 
sole  unit  of  value  must  have  a  ruinous  effect  on  all  forms  of 
property  except  those  investments  which  yield  a  fixed 
return  in  money.  These  would  gain  an  unfair  advantage- 
over  other  species  of  property." 

James  A.  Garfield  (1880):  "Whoever  controls  the  vol- 
ume of  currency  is  absolute  master  of  the  industry  and 
commerce  of  the  country." 

Senator  Mills,  of  Texas  (House,  February  3,  1886) :  "  But 
the  crime  that  is  now  sought  to  be  perpetrated  on  more 
than  fifty  millions  of  people  comes  neither  from  the  camp 
of  a  conqueror,  the  hand  of  a  foreigner,  nor  the  altar  of 
an  idolater.  It  comes  from  the  cold,  phlegmatic  marble 
heart  of  avarice — avarice  that  seeks  to  paralyze  labor, 
increase  the  burden  of  debt,  and  fill  the  land  with  destitu- 
tion and  suffering  to  gratify  the  lust  for  gold — avarice  sur- 
rounded by  every  comfort  that  wealth  can  command,  and 
rich  enough  to  satisfy  every  want  save  that  which  refuses 
to  be  satisfied  without  the  suffocation  and  strangulation  of 
all  the  labor  of  the  land.  With  a  forehead  that  refuses  to 
be  ashamed  it  demands  of  Congress  an  act  that  will 
paralyze  'all  the  forces  of  production,  shut  out  labor  from 
all  employment,  increase  the  burden  of  debts  and  taxation, 
and  send  desolation  and  suffering  to  all  the  homes  of  the 
poor." 

Leland  Stanford  (Senate,  March  10,  1890):  "  An  abund- 
ance of  money  means  universal  activity,  bringing  in  its 
train  all  the  blessings  that  belong  to  a  constantly  employed, 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  361 

industrious,  intelligent  people.  .  .  .  Abundant  and  cheap 
money  places  the  power  in  the  hands  of  the  industrious. 
.  .  .  Cheap  and  abundant  money  means  co-operation  of 
labor  to  an  extent  hitherto  unknown.  .  .  .  Would  go 
far  towards  aiding  his  [labor's]  intelligence,  toward  real- 
izing his  highest  destiny.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
great  thought  of  humanity  should  be  how  to  advance  the 
great  multitude  of  toilers,  increase  their  power  of  pro- 
duction and  elevate  their  condition.  .  .  .  To  me  one  of 
the  most  effective  means  of  placing  at  man's  disposal 
the  force  inherent  in  the  value  of  property  is  through 
furnishing  a  bountiful  supply  of  money.  ...  If  money 
were  suddenly  annihilated  from  all  business  affairs  there 
would  be  a  general  suspension  of  business  all  over  the 
country.  It  is  the  duty  of  statesmen  to  furnish  the  means, 
if  possible,  to  find  out  the  way  by  which  the  Creator's 
design  for  the  highest  advance  of  civilization  is  to  be 
obtained.  Want,  discomfort  and  misery  are  not  neces- 
sarily the  heritage  of  the  industrious  and  provident  man. 
So  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  no  government  has  ever  attempted 
to  furnish  an  adequate  supply  of  money  or  establish  any 
standard  by  which  its  want  could  be  ascertained." 

John  G.  Carlisle  (in  the  House,  February  21,  1878): 
"According  to  my  views  of  the  subject  the  conspiracy 
which  seems  to  have  been  formed  here  and  in  Europe  to 
destroy  by  legislation  and  otherwise  from  three-sevenths  to 
one-half  the  metallic  money  of  the  world  is  the  most 
gigantic  crime  of  this  or  any  other  age.  The  consumma- 
tion of  such  a  scheme  would  ultimately  entail  more  misery 
upon  the  human  race  than  all  the  wars,  pestilences  and 
famines  that  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  absolute  and  instantaneous  destruction  of  half  the 
entire  movable  property  of  the  world,  including  houses, 
ships,  railroads  and  other  appliances  for  carrying  on  com- 


362  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

merce,  while  it  would  be  felt  more  sensibly  at  the  moment, 
would  not  produce  anything  like  the  prolonged  distress 
and  disorganization  of  society  that  must  inevitably  result 
from  the  permanent  annihilation  of  one-half  the  metallic 
money  of  the  world." 

John  G.  Carlisle  (speaking  for  the  Bland  bill,  1878)  :  "It 
will  reverse  the  grinding  process  that  has  been  going  on 
for  the  last  few  years.  Instead  of  constant  and  ruthless 
contraction,  instead  of  constant  appreciation  of  money 
and  depreciation  of  property,  we  will  have  expansion  to  the 
extent  of  at  least  $2,000,000  a  month,  and  under  its  influ- 
ence the  exchangeable  value  of  commodities,  including 
labor,  will  soon  begin  to  rise,  thus  inviting  investments, 
infusing  life  into  the  dead  industries  of  the  country, 
and  quickening  the  pulsations  of  trade  in  all  its  depart- 
ments." 

Secretary  Windom  (Jan.  31,  1891):  "  The  ideal  financial 
system  would  be  one  that  should  furnish  just  enough  abso- 
lutely sound  money  to  meet  the  legitimate  wants  of  trade, 
and  no  more.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  peculiar  condition 
which  enabled  the  United  States  to  disburse  over  seventy- 
five  million  dollars  in  about  two  and  a  half  months  last 
autumn,  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  the  stringency  in 
August  and  September  would  have  resulted  in  widespread 
financial  ruin." 

Chauncey  M.  Depew :  "Fifty  men  can  paralyze  the  whole 
country,  for  they  can  control  the  circulation  of  the  currency, 
and  create  panic  whenever  they  will." 

Hon.  G.  G.  Symes,  of  Colorado  (commenting  on  the 
demonetization  of  silver)  :  "There  would  be  truly  enough 
money  to  do  the  business  after  the  shrinkage  of  prices  and 
the  financial  disasters.  For  the  new  order  of  things  and 
basis  of  values  there  would  still  be  gold  enough  to  carry  on 
the  business.  It  would  only  require  one-half  after  the  new 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  363 

condition  and  basis  was  readied.  The  rnonometallists, 
then,  would  still  argue  that  gold  was  not  scarce." 

Henry  Clews,  Wall  Street  financier  (March  16,  1895)  : 
"Wall  Street  keeps  a  quick  eye  upon  the  prospects  of  the 
suggested  international  silver  conference.  It  sees  in  the 
adoption  of  a  world-wide  policy  of  bimetallism  the  certainty 
of  a  material  increase  in  the  metallic  money  of  the  commer- 
cial nations,  and  assumes  that,  in  such  case,  there  would  be 
a  general  rise  in  values  and  a  consequent  speculative 
boom  of  wide  dimensions." 

Franklin  H.  Head,  of  Chicago  (business  man):  "That 
an  increase  in  the  quantity  of  money  reduces  prices,  and  a 
diminution  lowers  them,  as  stated  by  Mill  and  other 
economic  writers,  is  the  most  elementary  proposition  in  the 
theory  of  currency,  and  without  it  we  should  have  no  key 
to  any  of  the  others." 

Amasa  Walker,  of  Massachusetts  :  "Other  things  being 
equal,  the  amount  of  currency  in  circulation  determines  the 
prices  of  everything  that  is  for  sale  ;  and  these  are  increased 
or  diminished  as  the  volume  of  the  currency  is  increased  or 
diminished." 

A.  B.  Hepburn,  of  the  United  States  Treasury  (Forum, 
1894):  "When  credit  is  withheld  a  money  stringency  is 
easily  created." 

Prof.  William  G.  Sumner,  of  Yale  ("  History  of  American 
Currency,"  page  205)  :  "In  1872  this  issue  was  forced  out 
of  between  forty  and  fifty  million,  reducing  a  redundancy 
and  enhancing  retail  prices. "  Page  211:  "  The  war  being 
ended,  the  financial  question  took  this  form:  'Shall  we 
withdraw  the  paper,  recover  specie,  reduce  prices,  lessen 
imports  and  live  economically  until  we  have  made  up  the 
waste  and  loss  of  war?  Or  shall  we  keep  paper  as  money?' 
Mr.  McCulloch  proposed  to  contract  inflated  paper  and 
pursue  the  former  alternative."  Page  221:  "The  whole 


364  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

story  goes  to  show  that  the  value  of  paper  currency  depends 
upon  its  amount."  Page  329:  "If,  therefore,  a  nation 
has  a  specie  currency,  a  drain  upon  it  by  an  adverse 
balance  of  trade,  a  foreign  payment,  or  any  other  similar 
cause,  would  immediately  produce  a  lowering  of  prices  and 
a  return  of  current  specie  until  the  natural  level  was  once 
more  restored." 

Prof.  Francis  A.  Walker,  Yale  ("Money,"  page  57): 
"The  value  of  money  in  any  country  is  determined  by  the 
quantity  existing.  Its  power  of  acquisition  depends  not 
upon  its  substance,  but  upon  its  quantity.  .  .  .  That  prices 
will  fall  or  rise  as  the  volume  of  money  be  increased  or 
diminished  is  a  law  that  is  unalterable  as  any  law  of 
nature."  Page  210:  "Gold  and  silver  undergo  great 
changes  of  value  and  become  in  a  high  degree  deceptive. 
Prof.  Jevons  estimates  that  the  value  of  gold  fell,  between 
1789  and  1809,  45  per  cent.  ;  from  1809  to  1849  it  rose  145 
per  cent.,  while  in  the  twenty  years  after  1849  it  fell  again 
at  least  30  per  cent.  .  .  .  When  the  process  of  contraction 
commences  the  first  class  on  which  it  falls  is  the  mer- 
chants of  the  large  cities  ;  they  find  it  difficult  to  get  money 
to  pay  their  debts.  The  next  class  is  the  manufacturer ; 
the  sale  of  his  goods  at  once  falls  off.  Laborers  and 
mechanics  next  feel  the  pressure  ;  they  are  thrown  out  of 
employment.  And  lastly  the  farmer  finds  a  dull  sale  for 
his  produce." 

Robert  Ellis  Thompson,  M.  A.,  University  of  Pennsylvania 
("Political  Economy,"  page  151)  :  "The  influx  of  money 
into  a  progressive  country  is  one  of  the  most  powerful 
promoters  and  increasers  of  production.  When  it  is  plenty 
all  sorts  of  productive  work  is  stimulated.  Labor  is  the 
master  of  capital,  and  industrial  enterprise  gains  a  more 
than  proportionally  large  return  for  its  outlay."  Page 
209:  "The  possession  of  a  large  quantity  of  money 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  365 

enables  any  country  to  organize  its  industries  upon  such  a 
scale  as  to  carry  its  division  of  labor  to  such  perfection  as 
will  bring  down  the  prices  of  all  the  products  of  industry, 
while  affording  a  t  larger  return  to  both  capitalist  and 
laborer.  It  therefore  makes  such  a  country  a  cheap  place 
to  buy  in,  mainly  because  of  that  accumulation  of  money 
which  was  to  make  everything  dear." 

Professor  Thompson  ("Political  Economy")  quotes 
Thomas  Tooke,  page  208:  "If  money  has  increased, 
industry  and  trade  are  increased.  ...  If  iron  and  cotton 
are  scarce,  those  who  need  them  suffer  by  the  scarcity,  but 
it  has  no  effect  upon  the  prices  of  other  materials.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  money  is  scarce,  the  price  of  everything 
else  is  affected.  Every  one  must  make  exchanges,  just  as 
when  the  water  falls  in  the  rivers  traffic  is  interrupted 
because  the  vessels  are  aground." 

Professor  Francis  Boiven,  Harvard  ("American  Political 
Economy,"  page  280)  :  "The  whole  process  of  exchange 
may  be  compared  to  the  process  of  weighing  a  well-poised 
balance,  the  money  and  the  merchandise  being  placed  on 
the  opposite  arms  of  the  lever.  Increase  the  weight  on  the 
money  side,  and  the  merchandise  is  sure  to  rise."  Page 
281:  "The  equalization  of  money  is  but  another  name 
for  the  equalization  of  prices."  Page  244  :  "The  prob- 
ability of  the  notes  being  redeemed  at  some  future  day, 
more  or  less  remote,  is  not  the  cause  even  of  the  deprecia- 
tion in  the  value  of  paper  money,  .  .  .  but  solely  on  the 
relative  amount  of  the  currency  compared  with  the  needs 
of  business.  How  great  are  these  needs?  Commerce  needs 
money  or  currency  enough  to  enable  it  to  perform  its 
peculiar  function  ;  that  is,  to  make  the  prices  of  commodi- 
ties in  the  home  market  equal  or  as  nearly  equal  as  possible 
to  the  prices  of  the  same  commodities  in  foreign  markets." 
Page  245  :  "If  there  is  only  $100  to  buy  flour  with,  and 


366  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

onty  ten  barrels  of  flour  offered  for  sale,  the  competition  of 
buyers  and  sellers  must  fix  the  price  at  $10  a  barrel.  If 
there  was  twice  as  much  flour,  the  number  of  dollars  being 
the  same,  the  price  must  be  reduced  to  $5.  On  the  other 
hand,  double  the  quantity  of  money;  there  would  be  $200 
available  for  this  purpose,  and,  as  at  first,  only  ten  barrels 
to  be  sold;  the  price  would  rise  to  $20  a  barrel."  Page 
301  :  "The  general  principle  is  that  the  value  of  money 
falls  in  precisely  the  same  ratio  in  which  its  quantity  is 
increased.  If  the  whole  quantity  of  money  in  circulation 
was  doubled,  prices  would  be  doubled ;  if  it  was  only 
increased  one-fourth,  prices  would  rise  one-fourth." 

President  Steel,  Lawrence  University:  "The  conven- 
tional unit  of  lineal  measure  must  not  be  a  line  which 
averages  a  foot,  though  it  may  be  fourteen  inches  to-day 
and  nine  inches  to-morrow ;  for  the  same  reason  it  is 
desirable  that  the  unit  of  value  should  have  the  same  pur- 
chasing power  next  week  as  it  has  now." 

Prof.  Francis  Way land("  Elements  of  Political  Economy, " 
page  297)  :  "If  there  is  more  money  in  a  country  than  is 
needed  for  its  exchanges,  the  price  of  goods  is  raised  and 
it  is  sent  abroad  for  new  purchases.  If  there  is  a  scarcity 
of  money  in  a  country,  the  price  of  goods  declines,  and 
money  comes  in  from  other  lands  to  be  exchanged  for 
them."  Page  298:  "If  money  is  abundant  because 
business  is  stagnant  and  exchanges  are  few,  it  is  a  sign  of 
adversity  rather  than  of  prosperity." 

Edwards  Pierpont  {North  American  Review):  "When 
currency  is  small  it  is  always  easy  for  a  few  lords  of  corpora- 
tions and  rich  money-lenders  to  combine  and  lock  it  up, 
and  thus  throw  down  the  price  of  stocks,  wheat,  cotton 
and  other  commodities,  and  work  a  corner  on  the  currency. 
Thus  the  market  is  made  tight  and  extortion  easy." 
John  Sheldon  (New  England  Yale  Review,  March,  1890): 


I-'I \A.\CIAL  AUTHORITIES.  367 

"This  is  of  supreme  importance,  for  prices  tend  to  carry 
with  the  amount  and  not  simply  with  the  kind  of  legal- 
tender  money  in  circulation.  The  greater  the  amount  the 
higher  the  range  of  prices  ;  the  less  the  circulation  the 
lower  the  prices.  Prices  tend  ever  to  follow  up  and  down 
the  amount  of  legal-tender  money  in  circulation  ;  they  do 
not  tend  to  fixity  of  the  particular  kind  of  money  or 
standard  used." 

Alexander  Baring  { before  the  committee,  House  of  Lords, 
1819):  "The  reduction  of  paper  would  produce  all  those 
effects  which  arise  from  reduction  in  the  amouut  of  money 
in  any  countr)'. " 

Sir  Robert  Peel  (May  6,  1844,  speaking  of  the  act  to 
regulate  the  currency):  "There  is  no  contract,  public  or 
private,  no  engagement,  national  or  individual,  which  is 
unaffected  by  this." 

Lord  George  Bentinck  (Parliamentary  Debates,  about 
1847):  "Of  all  the  subtle  devices  which  the  wit  of  man 
has  contrived  to  despoil  the  community  of  their  property, 
nothing  equals  the  contrivance  of  laws  which  limits  the 
currency  to  gold." 

Lord Beaconsfield  ("  Agricultural  Depression  "):  "  Gold 
is  every  day  appreciating  in  value,  and  as  it  appreciates  in 
value  the  lower  become  prices." 

Sir  Walter  Scott  (speaking  of  abundant  currency):  "It 
is  not  less  an  issue  that  the  consequences  of  this  banking 
system  as  conducted  in  Scotland  have  been  operated  with 
the  greatest  advantage  to  the  country ;  have  converted 
Scotland  from  a  poor,  miserable  and  barren  country  into 
one  where,  if  nature  has  done  less,  art  and  industry  have 
done  more  than  in  perhaps  any  country  in  Enrope,  Eng- 
land itself  not  excepted." 

Encyclopedia  Britannica  (1859):  "A  fall  in  the  value  of 
precious  metals,  like  a  fall  of  rain  water  after  a  long  course 


368  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

of  dry  weather,  may  be  prejudicial  to  certain  classes.  It 
is  beneficial  to  an  incomparably  greater  number,  including 
all  who  are  engaged  in  industrial  pursuits,  and  is,  speak- 
ing generally,  of  great  public  or  national  advantage." 

North  British  Review  (November,  1861):  "Metallic 
money,  whilst  acting  as  coin,  is  identical  with  paper 
money  in  respect  to  being  destitute  of  intrinsic  value." 

William  Jocob,  F.  R.  S.,  gives  statistics  of  the  world's 
volume  of  money  from  the  year  14  A.  D.,  when  it  was 
$1,790,000,000,  to  806,  when  it  had  fallen  to  $168,000,000. 
The  price  of  a  horse  in  England  then  was  £i  15$  id',  an 
ox,  75  id;  a  cow,  6s  2d;  sheep,  is  id;  goat,  4</." 

Ernest  Seyd  (1867,  speaking  of  a  reduction  in  volume): 
"Throughout  the  world  a  fall  in  prices  will  take  place, 
injurious  alike  to  the  owners  of  solid  property  and  to  the 
laboring  classes,  and  advantageous  only,  and  unjustifiably 
so,  to  the  holders  of  state  debts  and  other  contracts  of  that 
kind."  ("Bullion,"  1868:)  "On  this  one  point  all  authori- 
ties are  agreed  :  that  the  large  increase  in  the  supply  of  gold 
has  given  a  universal  impetus  to  trade,  commerce  and  indus- 
try, and  to  greater  social  development  and  progress." 

Baron  Rothschild  (French  Monetary  Convention,  1869): 
"The  suppression  of  silver  would  amount  to  a  veritable 
destruction  of  values  without  any  compensation." 

Ricardo,  M.  P.  (high  priest  of  the  bullionists),  in  his 
reply  to  Bauset,  said:  "The  value  of  money  in  any 
country  is  determined  by  the  amount  existing.  .  .  .  The 
commodities  would  rise  or  fall  in  price  in  proportion  to  the 
increase  or  diminution  of  money.  I  assume  that  as  a  fact 
that  is  incontrovertible.  However  debased  a  coinage  may 
become,  it  will  preserve  its  mint  value.  ...  A  well- 
regulated  paper  currency  is  so  great  an  improvement  in 
commerce  that  I  should  greatly  regret  if  prejudice  should 
induce  us  to  return  to  a  system  of  less  utility.  .  .  .  By 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  369 

limiting  the  quantity  of  money  it  can  be  raised  to  any 
conceivable  value." 

John  R.  McCulloch  (commenting  on  Ricardo) :  "He 
explains  the  circumstances  which  determine  the  value  of 
money  .  .  .  and  he  shows  .  .  .  its  value  will  depend 
upon  the  extent  to  which  it  may  be  issued  compared  to  the 
demand.  This  is  a  principle  of  great  importance,  for  it 
shows  that  intrinsic  worth  is  not  necessary  to  a  currency." 

Speaking  in  favor  of  a  gradual  reduction  in  the  burden 
of  debts,  through  the  natural  increase  in  the  volume  of 
precious  metals,  McCulloch  said:  "It  promotes  industry 
and  diminishes  the  weight  of  obligations  which  press  upon 
the  producing  classes,  whether  employer  or  employed. 
.  .  .  Thus  it  appears  that,  whatever  may  be  the  material 
of  the  money  of  a  country,  whether  it  consists  of  gold, 
silver,  copper,  iron,  salt,  cowries,  or  paper,  and  however 
destitute  it  may  be  of  any  intrinsic  value,  it  is  yet  possible, 
by  sufficiently  limiting  its  quantity,  to  raise  its  value  in 
exchange  to  any  conceivable  extent." 

Samuel  Bailey  (Sheffield)  :  "However  some  men  doubt 
the  advantage  of  an  increase  of  the  currency,  no  one  can 
deny  the  ruinous  effects  of  a  decrease." 

Sir  James  Stewart:  "Money  is  nothing  more  than  a 
scale  of  equal  parts  for  the  measurement  of  things 
vendible." 

Sir  James  Graham  (British  statesman):  "The  value  of 
money  is  in  the  inverse  ratio  to  its  quantity,  supply  of 
commodities  remaining  the  same." 

William  E.  Gladstone  (1876,  speaking  of  the  banks 
issuing  money):  "  It  will  be  exactly  the  same  thing,  so  far 
as  the  money  is  concerned,  to  grant  a  legislative  privilege 
to  a  person  or  to  pay  over  to  him  a  considerable  sum  from 
the  consolidated  fund." 

London  Economist   (1883"):      "England    being   the   chief 


370 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


creditor  nation  of  the  world,  it  is  to  her  interest  to  keep 
the  volume  of  money  as  small  as  possible  in  countries  from 
which  debts  are  due,  in  order  to  get  more  of  their  product 
in  payment  of  interest  due  to  her  citizens." 

The  Royal  British  Commission,  appointed  August,  1885,  to 
inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  depression  of  business,  made 
world-wide  inquiries  and  was  composed  of  twenty-three 
members,  a  number  of  whom  were  distinguished  statesmen 
and  economists.  They  agreed  that  gold  had  greatly  appre- 
ciated in  value  and  that  the  rise  in  the  value  of  gold  was 
caused  by  the  demonetization  of  silver  and  the  falling  off 
in  the  supply  of  gold,  and  it  was  the  leading  cause  of  the 
general  depression  in  trade  and  industry.  But  it  was 
added : 

"This  country  [England]  is  largely  a  creditor  country 
of  debts  payable  in  gold,  and  any  change  which  entails  a 
rise  in  the  prices  of  commodities  generally — that  is  to  say, 
a  demonetization  of  the  purchasing  power  of  gold — would 
be  to  our  disadvantage." 

Archbishop  Walsh  (Dublin,  1893):  "Of  all  conceivable 
systems  of  currency,  that  system  is  sure  to  be  the  worst 
which  gives  you  a  standard  steadily,  continually,  indefinitely 
appreciating,  and  which,  by  that  very  fact,  throws  a  burden 
upon  every  man  of  enterprise  and  benefits  no  human  being 
whatever  but  the  owner  of  fixed  debts." 

Count  Leo  Tolstoi  (Russian  philanthropist):  "Only  by 
means  of  money  do  some  people  command  the  labor  of 
others  nowadays  ;  that  is,  into  slavedom.  Money  tribute 
has  become  a  chief  means  of  the  subjugation  of  men,  and 
by  it  are  determined  all  the  economic  relations  of  man." 

Cernuschi  (French  economist):  "The  purchasing  power 
of  money  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  volume  of  money 
existing." 

Professor  Chevalier  (France),  speaking  of  the  increase  of 
money,  says:  "Such  a  change  will  benefit  those  who 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  371 

live  by  current  labor  and  enterprise  ;  it  will  injure  those 
who  live  upon  the  fruits  of  past  labor.  ...  It  has  been 
wisely  said  that  there  is  no  machine  which  economizes 
labor  like  money,  and  its  adoption  has  been  likened  to  the 
discovery  of  letters." 

Sauerbeck  (German  statistician)  :  "The  propositions  of 
some  economists,  that  we  have  quite  enough  money  in  our 
country,  or  that  there  is  sufficient  gold  to  carry  on  the 
trade  of  the  world,  are  valueless.  They  assume  that  there 
is  a  certain  quantity  required  that  need  not  be  increased. 
Of  course  there  is  enough  gold,  and  we  could  perhaps  do 
with  half  the  quantity.  It  only  depends  upon  the  state  of 
prices." 

Fichte  (German  philosopher)  :  "  The  amount  of  money 
current  in  a  state  represents  everything  that  is  purchasable 
on  the  surface  of  the  state.  If  the  quantity  of  purchasable 
articles  increases  while  the  quantity  of  money  remains  the 
same,  the  value  of  the  money  increases  in  the  same  ratio. 
If  the  quantity  of  money  increases  while  the  quantity  of 
purchasable  articles  remains  the  same,  the  value  of  money 
decreases  in  the  same  ratio." 

Herr  von  JBarr,  speaking  of  the  loss  to  German 
miners  by  the  demonetization  of  silver,  says:  "This 
direct  loss,  important  as  it  is,  is  nothing,  however,  com- 
pared with  the  indirect  loss  resulting  from  the  tall  of 
prices." 

M.  Edouard  Cazalet,  banker  of  Milan  ("Bimetallism," 
page  14):  "Since  the  value  of  all  articles  of  commerce 
is  represented  by  the  currency,  the  value  of  these  articles 
must  fall  in  proportion  to  the  reduction  in  the  volume  of 
the  currency.  Otherwise  the  moneyed  currency  could  not 
possibly  do  the  work  which  the  two  metals  combined  have 
previously  performed." 

Dr.    Soetbeer    (German     statistician):      "The     v.ilue     of 


372  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

money  has  fallen  through  the  issue  of  paper  money  as 
well  as  through  the  increased  production  of  gold  and 
silver." 

Leon  Fouchet  (1843):  "If  all  the  nations  of  Europe 
adopted  the  system  of  Great  Britain  the  price  of  gold  would 
be  reduced  beyond  measure.  The  government  could  not 
decree  that  legal  tender  should  be  only  gold,  for  that 
would  be  to  decree  a  revolution,  and  the  most  dangerous 
of  all,  because  it  would  be  a  revolution  leading  to  unknown 
results." 

M.  Wolowski  (French  Institute,  1868):  "The  sup- 
pression of  silver  would  bring  on  a  veritable  revolution. 
Gold  would  augment  in  value  with  rapid  and  constant 
progress,  which  would  break  the  faith  of  contracts  and 
aggravate  the  situation  of  all  debtors.  ...  If  by  a  stroke 
of  the  pen  they  suppress  one  of  these  metals  [gold  or 
silver]  in  the  monetary  service,  they  double  the  demand 
for  the  other  metal,  to  the  ruin  of  all  debtors." 

JohnLocke(^1  Considerations,  etc.,  in  Relation  to  Money," 
1691)  :  "The  greater  scarcity  of  money  enhances  its  price 
and  increases  the  scramble,  and  makes  an  equal  portion  of 
it  exchange  for  a  greater  of  any  other  thing."  1690: 
"Money  is  really  a  standing  measure  of  the  falling  and 
rising  value  of  other  things.  If  you  increase  or  lessen  the 
quantity  of  money  current,  then  the  alteration  of  value  is 
in  the  money.  The  value  of  money  in  any  one  country  is 
the  present  quantity  of  the  current  money  in  that  country 
in  proportion  to  the  present  trade." 

Adam  Clark's  commentary  on  II.  Matthew:  "The 
scarcity  of  money  in  England  in  1351  influenced  Parliament 
to  pass  an  act  fixing  a  day's  labor  at  \d.  Twenty-four 
eggs  sold  for  \d;  a  pair  of  shoes  \d\  wheat  3^/5  a  fat 
ox  8o</." 

Copernicus,  the  astronomer  (treatise   "  Monete  Cudende 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES. 


373 


Ratio,"  addressed  to  the  King  of  Poland)  :  "Numberless 
as  are  the  evils  by  which  kingdoms,  principalities  and 
republics  are  wont  to  decline,  these  four  are,  in  my  judg- 
ment, most  baleful :  civil  strife,  pestilence,  sterility  of  the 
soil,  and  corruption  of  the  coin.  The  first  three  are  so 
manifest  that  no  one  fails  to  apprehend  them ;  but  the 
fourth,  which  concerns  money,  is  considered  by  few,  and 
those  the  most  reflective,  since  it  is  not  by  a  blow,  but 
little  by  little,  and  through  a  secret  and  obscure  approach, 
that  it  destroys  the  state." 

Daniel  Wainey,  of  England:  "I  cannot  suppose  that 
everybody  is  wise.  Must  think  of  the  folly  of  the  United 
States,  when  they  were  a  debtor  nation,  in  adopting  a  gold 
standard.  They  knew  nothing  about  currency  matters  ; 
they  did  not  know  it  was  going  to  increase  their  debt 
enormously." 

Paulus  (Roman  jurist,  third  century):  "Money  circu- 
lates with  a  power  which  is  derived,  not  from  the  substance, 
but  from  the  quantity." 

Blackstone  (vol.  I.,  page  2761):  "As  the  quantity  of 
precious  metals  increases  they  will  sink  in  value  and 
become  less  precious.  If  any  accident  were  to  diminish  the 
quantity  of  gold  and  silver  they  would  proportionately  rise. " 

Faucet  ("Handbook  of  Finance,"  page  146):  "The 
decline  of  prices  since  1872  and  1873  is  explained  by  the 
increased  value  of  gold.  The  first  effect  was  to  cause  a 
collapse  of  speculative  securities,  namely,  bonds  of  rail- 
roads, etc." 

Professor  De  Colange  ("American  Encyclopedia  of  Com- 
merce ")  :  "  The  rate  at  which  money  exchanges  for  other 
things  is  determined  by  its  quantity." 

Beasey :  "Slavery  is  the  inevitable  result  of  poverty. 
Poverty  is  the  inevitable  result  of  low  wages.  Low  wages 
are  the  inevitable  result  of  a  scarcity  of  currency." 


374  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

A.  H.  Gaston:  "Money  is  simply  a  measure  of  value, 
and  as  a  nation  contracts  its  circulation  it  contracts  the 
value  of  all  property  in  like  proportion." 

Cotton's  Public  Economy  (page  224):  "  We  hold  that  money 
enough  for  the  demands  of  trade  is  the  tool  of  trade  to  a 
nation."  Page  193  :  "  It  is  very  desirable  that  there  should 
not  be  sudden  and  great  fluctuations,  as  such  changes  affect 
the  value  of  incomes.  For  example,  when  the  products 
of  the  American  mines  had  raised  the  general  prices  on 
comforts  of  life  as  4  to  i." 

Silver  Commission  Report  of  1876,  page  49  :  "Whenever 
it  becomes  apparent  that  prices  are  rising  and  money 
falling  in  value  in  consequence  of  an  increase  in  its  volume, 
the  greatest  activity  takes  place  in  exchange  and  produc- 
tive enterprises.  Every  one  becomes  anxious  to  share  in 
the  advantages  of  a  rising  market,  and  the  inducement  to 
hoard  gold  is  taken  away ;  its  circulation  becomes  ex- 
ceedingly active  ;  labor  comes  into  great  demand  and  at 
remunerative  wages.  It  not  only  increases  production,  but 
increases  consumption."  Page  50  :  "Falling  prices  and 
misery  and  destitution  are  inseparable  companions.  It  is 
universally  conceded  that  falling  prices  result  from  the 
contraction  of  the  money  volume."  Page  50  :  "Money 
is  the  great  instrument  of  association,  the  very  fiber  of 
social  organism,  the  vitalizing  force  of  industry,  the  pure, 
true  organ  of  civilization,  and  as  essential  to  existence  as 
oxygen  is  to  animal  life.  Without  money  civilization 
could  not  have  had  a  beginning."  Page  51:  "It  is 
estimated  that  the  purchasing  power  of  the  precious  metals 
increased  between  1809  and  1840  fully  145  per  cent.  .  .  . 
They  had  come  to  regard  money  as  an  institution  fixed 
and  immovable  in  value,  and  when  the  price  of  property 
and  wages  fell  they  charged  the  fault  not  to  the  money, 
but  to  the  property  and  the  employer.  Their  prejudices 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  375 

were  aroused  against  labor-saving  machinery  ;  they  were 
angered  against  capital."  Page  53  (effects  of  a  decreas- 
ing vorume  of  money)  :  "  It  circulates  freely  in  the  stock 
exchange,  but  avoids  the  labor  exchange.  It  has  in  all 
cases  been  the  worst  enemy  with  which  society  has  had 
to  contend."  Page  56:  "However  great  the  natural 
resources  of  a  country,  fertile  its  soil,  intelligent,  enter- 
prising and  industrious  its  inhabitants — if  the  volume  of 
money  is  shrinking  and  prices  falling,  its  merchants  will 
be  overwhelmed  with  bankruptcy,  industries  paralyzed, 
and  destitution  and  distrust  will  prevail."  Page  59:  "All 
respectable  authorities  agree  as  to  the  relative  effects  of 
an  increasing  and  decreasing  money.  .  .  .  History  records 
no  such  disastrous  transition  as  that  from  the  Roman 
empire  to  the  dark  ages.  In  the  Christian  era  the  metallic 
money  of  the  Roman  empire  amounted  to  $1,800,000,000. 
By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  had  shrunk  to  less 
than  $200,000,000.  Population  dwindled,  and  commerce, 
arts,  wealth  and  freedom  all  disappeared." 

Henry  C.  Carey,  LL.  D.  ("Social  Sciencej"  page  297): 
"Money  tends  to  diminish  the  obstacles  interposed 
between  the  producer  and  the  consumer  precisely  as  do 
railroads  and  mills.  .  .  .  The  most  necessary  part  of  the 
machinery  of  exchange  being  that  which  facilitates  the 
passage  of  labor  and  its  products  from  hand  to  hand,  any 
diminution  of  its  quantity  is  felt  with  tenfold  more  severity 
than  is  the  diminution  of  the  quantity  of  railroad  cars 
or  steamboats." 

Ut-fore  the  Congressional  committee  :  "We  next  find  him 
[Secretary  McCulloch]  issuing  the  destructive  Fort  Wayne 
decree,  by  means  of  which  we  were  made  to  know  that  the 
currency  was  in  excess  and  prices  too  high  ;  that  the  policy 
of  the  treasury  was  to  be  one  of  contraction ;  and  that 
unfortunate1  debtors  must  as  speedily  as  possible  place 


376  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

themselves  in  a  position  to  meet  the  shock  to  be  thus 
created.  In  other  words,  all  debtors  were  required  to  sell, 
capitalists  meanwhile  being  advised  not  to  buy,  the  govern- 
ment being  determined  that  labor,  lands,  houses,  stocks 
and  property  of  all  other  descriptions  should  be  promptly 
reduced  to  gold  values." 

Treatise  on  "Wealth":  "A  period  of  contracted  currency 
is  one  of  embarrassment,  difficulty,  and  generally,  in  the 
end,  of  insolvency  to  the  small  farmer  and  moderate  land- 
holder. ...  It  will  rise  in  price  from  that  scarcity,  and 
become  accessible  only  to  the  more  rich  and  affluent 
classes." 

[This  greatest  of  American  political  economists,  the  late 
Henry  C.  Carey,  estimated  the  cost  of  contraction  in  order 
to  secure  resumption  between  the  years  of  1873  and  1879 
at  thirty  billion  dollars.] 

Henry  Carey  Baird  (March  13,  1882):  "The  man  who 
has  the  greatest  horror  of  the  inflation  of  the  currency 
generally  has  no  horror  of  the  inflation  of  bank  credits. 
He  likes  it  because  it  increases  his  power  over  his  fellow 
men.  What  he  objects  to  is  the  inflation  of  the  people 
which  causes  an  increase  of  their  power." 

Septembers,  1889:  "People  know  that  the  expansion 
of  the  currency  means  life,  and  equally  well  that  contrac- 
tion means  death." 

Henry  Carey  Baird  ("  Money  and  Bank  Credit,"  page  14)  : 
"The  first  and  greatest  need  of  a  man  is  that  of  associa- 
tion and  combination  with  his  fellow  men,  and  the  daily 
life  of  a  civilized  people  involves  such  countless  myriads 
of  acts  of  association  or  commerce  that  a  medium  having 
the  quality  of  universal  acceptability  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  that  life.  That  medium  is  money.  ...  In  its 
absence  in  sufficient  volume  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
thousands  of  millions  of  dollars  of  labor  power  annually 


FINANCIAL  AUTHORITIES.  377 

in  those  islands  perish.  While  the  Trenholms,  the  Rus- 
sell Sages,  the  Pearsalls,  the  Fahnenstocks  and  the  Selig- 
mans  wrangle  over  the  efforts  of  the  people  to  secure  a 
sufficient  supply  of  'current  money,'  more  labor  power 
will  go  to  waste  than  will  represent  the  value  of  the 
capital  of  all  the  banks  in  the  city  of  New  York  many 
times  over." 

Peter  Cooper  :  "Contraction  in  finance  is  not  the  same 
as  economy  in  private  life.  Contraction  in  the  finances  of 
a  country  means  a  stoppage  of  a  certain  amount  of  the 
industry  and  exchanges,  by  reason  of  the  contraction  of  the 
credit  by  which  these  are  sustained.  Nothing  can  be  more 
certain  than  that  a  contraction  of  the  currency  by  our  gov- 
ernment has  been  followed  by  a  reduction  of  all  values,  so 
that  a  wrong  has  been  inflicted  upon  all  the  enterprising 
business  men  of  this  nation,  whose  property  has  been 
virtually  confiscated  by  this  process  of  contraction." 

B.  F.  Butler  (August,  1875)  :  "I  am  informed  that  Mr. 
Duncan,  of  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.,  went  to  Washington 
when  the  currency  bill  was  before  the  President  to  advise 
him  to  veto  it  because  it  was  necessary  to  depreciate 
values.  The  President  did  veto  the  bills.  Values  have 
been  depreciated,  I  trust,  to  an  amount  entirely  satisfactory 
to  Messrs.  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co."  [The  firm  of  which 
John  Sherman  was  a  member  was  bankrupted  by  the 
depreciation.] 

Solon  Chase  :  "  I  bought  a  yoke  of  steers  a  year  ago  for 
S6o  ;  fed  them  all  summer  and  winter,  and  in  the  spring 
was  offered  but  $60  for  them  in  the  market.  Who  got  the 
hay?  So  long  as  the  owners  of  funded  wealth  control  the 
volume  of  money  they  control  the  price  of  a  day's  work 
down  east  and  the  price  of  a  bale  of  cotton  down  south. 
The  higher  the  price  of  hogs  and  corn,  the  easier  the 
people  can  pay  the  debt.  The  farmer  cannot  pay  off  his 


378  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

debt  on  a  falling  market.  The  fight  of  the  men  who  deal 
in  money  is  not  for  the  metal,  but  to  control  the  volume." 

James  D.  Holden  (President  National  Citizens'  Alliance)  : 
"So  magical  is  the  operation  of  this  wonderful  device 
known  as  money  that  by  simply  restricting  its  issue 
wealth  is  transferred  from  the  hands  that  created  it  to  the 
possession  of  those  not  in  the  remotest  degree  responsible 
for  its  production.  Let  the  reader  who  does  not  indorse 
this  view  give  himself,  if  possible,  a  reason  why  a  people 
who  by  their  laws  create  the  supply  of  money  should 
limit  the  issue." 

A  Georgia  editor  (speaking  of  the  effects  of  contraction) 
says:  "In  1868  there  was  about  $40  per  capita  of  money 
in  circulation  ;  cotton  was  about  30  cents  a  pound.  The 
farmer  then  put  a  5oo-pound  bale  of  cotton  on  his  wagon, 
took  it  to  town  and  sold  it.  Then  he  paid  $40  taxes, 
bought  a  cooking  stove  for  $30,  a  suit  of  clothes  for  §15, 
his  wife  a  dress  for  $5,  100  pounds  of  meat  for  $18,  one 
barrel  of  flour  for  $12,  and  went  home  with  $30  in  his 
pocket.  In  1887  there  was  about  $5  per  capita  of  money 
in  circulation;  this  same  farmer  put  a  5oo-pound  bale  of 
cotton  on  his  wagon,  went  to  town  and  sold  it,  paid  $40 
taxes,  got  discouraged,  went  to  the  saloon,  spent  his 
remaining  $2.30  and  went  home  dead  broke  and  drunk." 

Arthur  Kitson  ("Scientific  Solution  of  the  Money  Ques- 
tion," 1894,  page  284):  "A  restricted  currency  means 
restricted  commerce  ;  restricted  commerce  means  restricted 
production,  and  restricted  production  means  poverty, 
misery,  disease  and  death."  Page  396:  "The  gold 
standard  is  a  device  of  the  bankers  for  the  measuring  of 
everybody  else's  corn  with  their  bushel." 

Sealy  ("Coins  and  Currency,"  1853):  "The  commerce 
of  the  country  is  now  in  the  power  of  the  Bank  of  England 
as  it  was  before  in  the  legislature." 


7-7.VA.VC/. IL  . I UTHORITIF.S. 


379 


Doubleday  ("Financial  History  of  England"):  "We 
have  already  seen  the  fall  of  prices  produced  by  this 
universal  narrowing  of  the  paper  circulation.  Distress, 
ruin  and  bankruptcy  which  took  place  were  universally 
among  the  landholders  whose  estates  were  burdened  by 
mortgages.  The  effects  were  most  marked.  Owners  were 
stripped  of  all  and  made  beggars." 

President  Andrews  (Eaton  University):  "Demonetiza- 
tion of  silver  was  the  hardest,  saddest  blow  to  human 
welfare  ever  delivered  by  the  action  of  states.  So  long  as 
gold  is  the  sole  standard  of  that  money,  so  long  these 
wrongs  and  sufferings  must  continue." 

James  Mill  (father  of  John  Stuart  Mill) :  "  In  whatever 
degree  the  quantity  of  money  is  increased  or  diminished, 
other  things  remaining  the  same,  in  that  proportion  the 
value  of  the  whole  and  every  part  is  reciprocally  diminished 
or  increased." 

Herbert  Spencer :  "Barbarians  do  not  want  any  money 
but  hard  money;  semi-civilized  people  want  hard  money 
and  convertible  paper ;  but  when  the  world  becomes 
civilized  and  enlightened  no  other  kind  of  money  will  be 
used  but  paper  money." 


VI. 

INTEREST  AND  USURY. 

"  It  is  against  nature  for  money  to  breed  money." — BACO.N. 

THE  great  Napoleon  said,  after  studying  a  set  of  com- 
pound interest  tables:  "There  is  one  thing  to  my 
mind  more  wonderful  than  all  the  rest,  and  that  is, 
that  the  deadly  fact  buried  in  these  tables  has  not  before 
this  devoured  the  whole  world."  The  ethical  sense  of 
mankind  saw  at  an  early  day  the  wrong  of  usury.  The 
Mosaic  law  was  very  explicit  on  the  subject.  Cicero  men- 
tions that  Cato,  being  asked  what  he  thought  of  usur)', 
made  no  other  answer  to  the  question  than  by  asking  the 
person  who  spoke  to  him  what  he  thought  of  murder. 
The  Christian  Church,  in  its  early  days  and  until  the  end 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  utterly  forbade  the  exaction  of  interest. 
In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  a  prohibitory  act  was  passed, 
for  the  stated  reason  that  the  charging  of  interest  was  "a 
vice  most  odious  and  detestable  and  contrary  to  the  word 
of  God."  It  was  not  until  the  time  of  the  Reformation 
that  this  interpretation  of  the  divine  law  was  ever  ques- 
tioned. Calvin  was  one  of  the  first  to  contend  that  the 
sentiment  against  exacting  interest  arose  from  a  mistaken 
view  of  the  Mosaic  law.  A  series  of  enactments,  known 
as  the  Usury  Laws,  restricted  the  maximum  rate  to  be 
charged  in  England.  By  Act  21  James  I.  this  rate  was 
fixed  at  8  per  cent.  During  the  Commonwealth  this  rate 
was  reduced  to  6  per  cent.,  and  by  Act  12  Anne  to  5  per 
cent.,  at  which  rate  it  stood  until  1839.  In  the  United 
States  the  legal  rate  of  interest  varies,  nearly  all  the 

380 


INTERES  T  AND  USUR  Y.  381 

States    having    passed    statutes    fixing    a   maximum    rate. 

"  Usury  bringeth  the  treasures  of  a  realm  or  state  into 
a  few  hands  ;  for  the  usurer  being  at  certainties,  and 
others  at  uncertainties,  at  the  end  of  the  game  most  of  the 
money  will  be  in  the  box;  and  ever  a  state  flourisheth 
when  wealth  is  more  equally  spread." 

This  quotation  is  from  the  essay  "Of  Usury,"  by  that 
wisest  of  philosophers,  Francis  Bacon.  The  reader  must 
bear  in  mind  that  while  nowadays  the  term  "usury"  is 
applied  generally  only  to  excessive  interest,  in  Bacon's 
time  the  word  was  used  for  any  rate  of  premium  or  inter- 
est for  the  use  of  money.  The  word  usance,  now  obsolete 
in  that  sense,  conveyed  the  same  meaning,  and  is  used 
in  Shakespeare's  "  Merchant  of  Venice."  The  provocation 
which  Antonio  first  gave  Shylock  was  that — 

"  He  lends  out  money  gratis  and  brings  down 
The  rate  of  usance  here  with  us  in  Venice." 

All  are  familiar  with  the  conditions  which  Shylock 
exacted  of  Antonio  : 

Shylock.  This  kindness  will  I  show. 

Go  with  me  to  a  notary,  seal  me  there 

Your  single  bond  ;  and,  in  a  merry  sport, 

If  you  repay  me  not  on  such  a  day, 

In  such  a  place,  such  sum  or  sums  as  are 

Express'd  in  the  condition,  let  the  forfeit 

Be  nominated  for  an  equal  pound 

Of  your  fair  flesh,  to  be  cut  off  and  taken 

In  what  part  of  your  body  pleaseth  me. 

Antonio.     Content  i'  faith  :  I'll  seal  to  such  a  bond 
And  say  there  is  much  kindness  in  the  Jew. 

Bassanio.     You  shall  not  seal  to  such  a  bond  for  im  : 
I'll  rather  dwell  in  my  necessity. 

Antonio.     Why,  fear  not,  man  ;   I  will  not  forfeit  it; 
Within  these  two  months,  that's  a  month  before 
This  bond  expires,  I  do  expect  return 


3  8  2  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

Of  thrice  three  times  the  value  of  this  bond.   .   .   . 
Come  on ;  in  this  there  can  be  no  dismay  ; 
My  ships  come  home  a  month  before  the  day. 

But  Antonio's  ships  did  not  come  in — just  as  the  farmer's 
crop  often  fails  and  the  artisan's  employment  gives  out 
just  when  the  mortgage  is  due — and  Shylock  claimed  his 
pound  of  flesh.  "The  Merchant  of  Venice"  is  a  corned)-, 
and  Shylock,  Bassanio  and  Antonio  are  mere  creatures  of 
imagination  ;  but  there  are  thousands  of  tragedies  enacted 
every  day  in  real  life  in  which  real  Shylocks  play  a  part. 
The  Shylocks  of  to-day  are  quite  unlike  the  Shylocks  of 
fiction,  however.  Banker  Morgan,  who  negotiated  with 
Grover  Cleveland  the  star-chamber  bond  deal  by  which 
the  American  government  sold  to  the  Rothschilds  at  a 
premium  of  only  4^  per  cent.  $100,000,000  of  interest- 
bearing  gold  bonds  which  were  immediately  after  quoted 
at  a  premium  of  21  per  cent,  is  a  philanthropist.  As  soon 
as  possible  after  the  deal  was  made  his  portrait  appeared 
in  many  of  the  great  dailies  with  a  fulsome  account  of  his 
many  charities!  It  will  take  many  a  pound  of  human 
flesh,  many  a  drop  of  life's  blood,  to  pay  the  interest  on 
the  bonds  which  he  negotiated,  and  out  of  the  sale  of 
which  he  made  a  cool  million  in  one  day. 

The  Bible  has  much  to  say  on  the  subject  of  usury.  The 
writer  has  never  heard  a  sermon  preached  on  any  of  the 
following  texts,  however — perhaps  because  bankers  and 
money-lenders  rent  the  best  pews.  Remember  that  usury 
here  means  simply  interest — not  excessive  interest : 

Exodus  22:25:  "If  thou  lend  money  to  any  of  my 
people  that  is  poor  by  thee,  thou  shalt  not  be  to  him  as  an 
usurer,  neither  shalt  thou  lay  upon  him  usury." 

Deuteronomy  23:19-20:  "Thou  shalt  not  lend  upon 
usury  to  thy  brother  ;  usury  of  money,  usury  of  victuals, 
usury  of  anything  that  is  lent  upon  usury.  Unto  a  stranger 


INTEREST  AXD  USURY.  383 

them  mayest  lend  upon  usury,  but  unto  thy  brother  thou 
slialt  not  lend  upon  usury,  that  the  Lord  thy  God  may 
bless  thee." 

Nehemiah  5:7:  "Then  I  consulted  with  myself,  and  I 
rebuked  the  nobles,  and  the  rulers,  and  said  unto  them  : 
Ye  exact  usury  every  one  of  his  brother.  And  I  set  a 
great  assembly  against  them." 

Psalms  15:5  (David  describes  a  citizen  of  Zion)  :  "He 
that  putteth  not  out  his  money  to  usury,  nor  taketh  reward 
against  the  innocent." 

A  Chapter  from  "Caesar's  Column." 

I  cannot  do  better  here  than  quote  a  significant  chapter 
from  Ignatius  Donnelly's  powerful  novel,  "Caesar's 
Column,"  which  certainly  did  as  much  as  any  book  ever 
printed  to  set  people  thinking  : 

"  But  what  would  you  do,  my  good  Gabriel,"  said  Maxi- 
milian, smiling,  "if  the  reformation  of  the  world  were 
placed  in  your  hands?  Every  man  has  a  Utopia  in  his 
head.  Give  me  some  idea  of  yours." 

"First,"  I  said,  "I  should  do  away  with  all  interest  on 
money.  Interest  on  money  is  the  root  and  ground  of  the 
world's  troubles.  It  puts  one  man  in  a  position  of  safety, 
while  another  is  in  a  condition  of  insecurity,  and  thereby 
it  at  once  creates  a  radical  distinction  in  human  society." 

"  How  do  you  make  that  out?"  he  asked. 

"The  lender  takes  a  mortgage  on  the  borrower's  land, 
or  house,  or  goods,  for,  we  will  say,  one-half  or  one-third 
their  value  ;  the  borrower  then  assumes  all  the  chances  of 
life  to  repay  the  loan.  If  he  is  a  farmer,  he  has  to  run  the 
risk  of  the  fickle  elements.  Rains  may  drown,  droughts 
may  burn  up  his  crops.  If  a  merchant,  he  encounters  all 
the  hazards  of  trade :  the  bankruptcy  of  other  tradesmen  ; 
the  hostility  of  the  elements  sweeping  away  agriculture, 
and  so  affecting  commerce  ;  the  tempests  that  smite  his 
ships,  etc.  If  a  mechanic,  he  is  still  more  dependent  upon 
the  success  of  all  above  him  and  the  mutations  of  com- 
mercial prosperity.  He  may  lose  employment  ;  he  may 
sicken  ;  he  may  die.  But  behind  all  these  risks  stands  the 


384  PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 

money-lender,  in  perfect  security.  The  failure  of  his  cus- 
tomers only  enriches  him  ;  for  he  takes  for  his  loan  property 
worth  twice  or  thrice  the  sum  he  has  advanced  upon  it. 
Given  a  million  of  men  and  a  hundred  years  of  time,  and 
the  slightest  advantage  possessed  by  any  one  class  among 
the  million  must  result,  in  the  long  run,  in  the  most  start- 
ling discrepancies  of  condition.  A  little  evil  grows  like  a 
ferment — it  never  ceases  to  operate ;  it  is  always  at  work. 
Suppose  I  bring  before  you  a  handsome,  rosy-cheeked 
young  man,  full  of  life  and  hope  and  health.  I  touch  his 
lip  with  a  single  b  acillusvi  phthisis  pulmonalis — consumption. 
It  is  invisible  to  the  eye ;  it  is  too  small  to  be  weighed. 
Judged  by  all  the  tests  of  the  senses,  it  is  too  insignificant 
to  be  thought  of;  but  it  has  the  capacity  to  multiply  itself 
indefinitely.  The  youth  goes  off  singing.  Months,  per- 
haps years,  pass  before  the  deadly  disorder  begins  to 
manifest  itself,  but  in  time  the  step  loses  its  elasticity ; 
the  eyes  become  dull ;  the  roses  fade  from  the  cheeks  ;  the 
strength  departs,  and  eventually  the  joyous  youth  is  but  a 
shell — a  cadaverous,  shrunken  form,  inclosing  a  shocking 
mass  of  putridity;  and  death  ends  the  dreadful  scene. 
Give  one  set  of  men  in  a  community  a  financial  advantage 
over  the  rest,  however  slight — it  may  be  almost  invisible — 
and  at  the  end  of  centuries  that  class  so  favored  will  own 
everything  and  wreck  the  country.  A  penn}',  they  say, 
put  out  at  interest  the  day  Columbus  sailed  from  Spain, 
and  compounded  ever  since,  would  amount  now  [A.  D. 
1990]  to  more  than  all  the  assessed  value  of  all  the  prop- 
erty, real,  personal  and  mixed,  on  the  two  continents  of 
North  and  South  America." 

"But,"  said  Maximilian,  "how  would  the  men  get  along 
who  wanted  to  borrow?" 

"The  necessity  to  borrow  is  one  of  the  results  of  borrow- 
ing. The  disease  produces  the  symptoms.  The  men  who 
are  enriched  by  borrowing  are  infinitely  less  in  number 
than  those  who  are  ruined  by  it  ;  and  every  disaster  to  the 
middle  class  swells  the  number  and  decreases  the  oppor- 
tunities of  the  helpless  poor.  Money  in  itself  is  valueless. 
It  becomes  valuable  only  by  use — by  exchange  for  things 
needful  for  life  or  comfort.  If  money  could  not  be  loaned 
it  would  have  to  be  put  out  by  the  owner  of  it  in  business 


INTEREST  AND  USURY.  385 

enterprises,  which  would  employ  labor ;  and  as  the  enter- 
prise would  not  then  have  to  support  a  double  burden — to- 
wit,  the  man  engaged  in  it  and  the  usurer  who  sits  securely 
upon  his  back — but  would  have  to  support  only  the  former 
usurer,  that  is,  the  present  employer — its  success  would  be 
more  certain  ;  the  general  prosperity  of  the  community 
would  be  increased  thereby,  and  there  would  be,  there- 
fore, more  enterprises,  more  demand  for  labor,  and  conse- 
quently higher  wages.  Usury  kills  off  the  enterprising 
members  of  a  community  by  bankrupting  them,  and  leaves 
only  the  very  rich  and  the  very  poor ;  but  every  dollar  the 
employers  of  labor  pay  to  the  lenders  of  money  has  to 
come  eventually  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  laborers. 
Usury  is  therefore  the  cause  of  the  first  aristocracy.,  and 
out  of  this  grow  all  the  other  aristocracies.  Inquire  where 
the  money  came  from  that  now  oppresses  mankind,  in  the 
shape  of  great  corporations,  combinations,  etc.,  and  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten  you  will  trace  it  back  to  the  fountain  of 
interest  on  money  loaned.  The  coral  island  is  built  up  of 
the  bodies  of  dead  coral  insects ;  large  fortunes  are  usually 
the  accumulations  of  wreckage,  and  every  dollar  repre- 
sents disaster." 

How  Wealth  Accumulates. 

As  proof  of  the  fact  that  it  is  a  mighty  fortunate  thing  for 
humanity  that  the  Rothschilds  did  not  conduct  a  bank  in 
the  year  i  A.  D. ,  I  reprint  from  the  Twentieth  Century  the 
following  article  by  H.  C.  Whitaker,  which  shows  the 
beauties  of  interest-drawing : 

"Had  one  cent  been  loaned  on  the  i4th  day  of  March, 
A.  D.  i,  interest  being  allowed  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent., 
compounded  yearly,  then,  1894  years  later — that  is,  on 
March  14,  1895 — tne  amount  due  would  be  $8,497,840,- 
ooo,  ooo,  000,000,000,  ooo,  ooo,  ooo, ooo,  ooo,  ooo, ooo, ooo  (  8 ,  - 
497,840,000  decillions).  If  it  were  desired  to  pay  this  in 
gold,  23.2  grains  to  the  dollar,  then,  taking  spheres  of 
pure  gold,  each  the  size  of  the  earth,  it  would  take  610,- 
070,000,000,000,000  of  them  to  pay  for  that  cent.  Placing 
these  spheres  in  a  straight  row,  their  combined  length 
would  be  4,826,870,000,000,000,000,000  miles,  a  distance 


386 


PRESENT  DA  Y  PROBLEMS. 


which  it  would  take  light  (going  at  the  rate  of  186,330 
miles  per  second)  820,890,000  years  to  travel. 

"The  planets  and  stars  of  the  entire  solar  and  stellar 
universe,  as  seen  by  the  great  Lick  telescope,  if  they  were 
all  of  solid  gold,  would  not  nearly  pay  the  amount.  A 
single  sphere  to  pay  the  whole  amount,  if  placed  with  its 
center  at  the  sun,  would  have  its  surface  extending  563,- 
580,000  miles  beyond  the  orbit  of  the  planet  Neptune,  the 
farthest  in  our  system. 

"It  may  be  added  that  if  the  earth  had  contained  a 
population  of  ten  billions,  each  one  making  a  million 
dollars  a  second,  then  to  pay  for  that  cent  it  would  have 
required  their  combined  earnings  for  26,938,500,000,000,- 
000,000,000  years." 


VII. 

DEBT  AND  SLAVERY. 

"And  ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  and  proclaim  liberty 
throughout  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants  thereof." — Levit- 
icus 25:10. 

"Debt  is  the  fatal  disease  of  republics,  the  first  thing  and  the 
mightiest  to  undermine  government  and  corrupt  the  people." — 
WKNUELL  PHILLIPS. 

FROM  the  earliest  dawn  of  history  debt  has  ever  borne 
a  close  relationship  to  slavery  and  servitude.  "It 
is  worthy  of  remark,"  says  Grote  (History  of  Greece, 
vol.  III.,  p.  144),  "that  the  first  borrowers  must  have  been 
for  the  most  part  driven  to  this  necessity  by  the  press- 
ure of  want,  contracting  debt  as  a  desperate  resource 
without  any  fair  prospect  of  ability  to  pay.  Debt  and 
famine  run  together  in  the  mind  of  the  poet  Hesiod.  The 
borrower  is  in  this  unhappy  state  rather  a  distressed  man 
soliciting  aid  than  a  solvent  man  capable  of  making  and 
fulfilling  n  contract;  and  if  he  cannot  find  a  friend  to  make 
a  free  gift  to  him  in  the  former  character  he  would  not 
under  the  latter  character  obtain  a  loan  from  a  stranger 
except  by  the  promise  of  exorbitant  interest  and  by  the 
fullest  eventual  power  over  his  person  which  he  is  in  a 
position  to  grant." 

"This  remark,"  says  Professor  Nicholson  in  the  En- 
cyclopedia Britannica,  "suggested  by  the  state  of  society 
in  ancient  Greece,  is  largely  applicable  throughout  the 
world  until  the  close  of  the  early  Middle  Ages."  The 
conditions  of  ancient  usury  find  a  graphic  illustration  in 
the  account  of  the  building  of  the  second  temple  at 

387 


388  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

Jerusalem  (Nehemiah  5:1-12).  Some  said:  "We  have 
mortgaged  our  lands,  vineyards  and  houses  that  we  might 
buy  corn,  because  of  the  dearth."  Others  said:  "We 
have  borrowed  money  for  the  king's  tribute,  and  that  upon 
our  lands  and  vineyards,  .  .  .  and  lo,  we  bring  into  bond- 
age our  sons  and  our  daughters  to  be  servants,  .  .  .  neither 
is  it  in  our  power  to  redeem  them,  for  other  men  have  our 
lands  and  vineyards." 

In  ancient  Greece  we  find  a  law  of  bankruptcy  resting 
on  slavery.  In  Athens,  about  the  time  of  Solon's  legisla- 
tion (594  B.  C.),  the  bulk  of  the  population  who  had 
originally  been  small  proprietors  became  gradually 
indebted  to  the  rich  to  such  an  extent  that  they  were 
practically  slaves;  those  who  nominally  owned  their  prop- 
erty owed  more  than  they  could  pay,  and  stone  pillars 
erected  on  their  land  showed  the  amount  of  the  debts  and 
the  names  of  the  lenders.  Solon's  remedy  for  this  state 
of  affairs  was  to  cancel  all  debts  made  on  the  security  of 
the  land  or  the  person  of  the  debtor,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  enacted  that  henceforth  no  loans  could  be  made  on  the 
bodily  securit)'  of  the  debtor,  and  the  creditor  was  confined 
to  a  share  of  the  property. 

In  Rome's  early  history  practically  the  same  conditions 
prevailed  as  in  Greece.  About  500  B.  C.  an  attempt  was 
made  to  remedy  the  evil  by  providing  a  maximum  rate  of 
interest,  no  alteration  being  made,  however,  in  the  law  of 
debt.  In  the  course  of  a  few  centuries  the  free  farmers 
were  utterly  destroyed.  The  pressure  of  war  and  taxes 
and  usury  drove  all  into  debt  and  into  practical,  if  not 
technical,  slavery.  The  old  law  of  debt  was  not  really 
abolished  until  the  dictatorship  of  Julius  Caesar,  who  then 
practically  adopted  Solon's  legislation  of  more  than  five 
centuries  before,  but  too  late  to  save  the  middle  class. 

In  the  course  of  centuries  and  the  evolution  of  civiliza- 


DEB  7'  A  ND  SLA  VER  Y.  389 

tion  chattel  slavery  has  been  abolished ;  but  the  slavery  of 
debt  still  remains,  and  usury  is  now,  as  it  was  in  all  the 
history  of  mankind,  the  tool  with  which  debt  forges  the 
chains  of  nations.  It  is  not  the  province  of  this  work  to 
examine  into  the  conditions  of  other  countries  than  our 
own,  but  the  facts  now  to  be  presented  will  convince  the 
thoughtful  reader  that  the  American  people  are  bound  by 
chains  of  debt  which  it  will  require  the  wisest  statesman- 
ship to  break. 

Representative  Warner  of  Massachusetts  (Republican), 
in  a  speech  delivered  in  Congress  in  1894,  stated  that  the 
interest-bearing  debts  of  the  United  States,  public  and 
private,  aggregated  a  grand  total  of  $32,000,000,000  (thirty- 
two  billions  of  dollars).  This  would  be  bad  enough,  but 
careful  estimates  by  conservative  students  of  political 
economy  show  that  the  amount  is  very  much  larger. 

W.  H.  Harvey,  author  of  "Coin's  Financial  School," 
makes  the  following  itemized  estimate  of  the  interest- 
bearing  debts  of  this  country,  public  and  private. 
Most  of  the  figures  are  derived  from  recognized  official 
sources : 

The  national  debt,  according  to  the  official 

census  of  1890,  was $  891,960,104 

State  and  municipal  debts  (census  1890).  1,135,210,442 
Railroad  bonds,  1892  ("Poor's  Manual," 

1893) 5,463,611,204 

Debt  on  farms  and  homes  occupied  by 

owner  (R.   R.  Porter,  Supt.  Eleventh 

Census,    in    North    American  Review, 

vol.  153,  p.  618) 2,500,000,000 

Mortgaged  indebtedness  of  business  realty, 

street     railways,     manufactories    and 

business  enterprises  (estimated    from 

partial  reports  of  nth  census) 5,000,000,000 

Loans  from  3,773  national  banks  (Statisti- 
cal Abstract  of  the  United  States)..  2,153,769,806 


390 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


Loans  from  5,579  State  savings,  stock  and 
private  banks  and  trust  companies 
(Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United 
States)  2,201,764,292 

These  are  figures  on  which  something 
definite  has  been  obtained  ;  also  the 
ratio  of  increase  from  1880  to  1890, 
which  was  from  $6, 750, 000,000  in  1880 
to  $19,000,000,000  in  1890.  By  com- 
puting the  same  ratio  of  increase  we 
should  now  add 8,000,000,000 

Mortgage  debts  on  homes  not  occupied  by 

owner  (estimated) 1,000,000,000 

Overdue  accounts  due  merchants,  whole- 
sale and  retail,  drawing  from  6  to  10 
per  cent,  interest  (estimated) 5,000,000,000 

Debts  due  pawnbrokers,  drawing  from  60 
to  120  per  cent,  per  annum  or  5  to  10 
per  cent,  a  month  (estimated) 1,000,000,000 

Private  debts  due  from  individuals  to  indi- 
viduals and  of  which  there  is  no  pub- 
lic record  or  other  data  for  census 
officers  to  obtain  information  (esti- 
mated)    1,000,000,000 

Maritime  debts  (estimated) 1,000,000,000 

Overdrafts,  judgments,  overdue  taxes  and 
miscellaneous  items  not  included  in 
the  foregoing  (estimated) 4,000,000,000 


Horrible  total $40,346,315,848 

In  commenting  on  his  figures,  Mr.  Harvey  says :  "  Debts, 
a  non-producing  industry,  growing  to  such  a  magnitude 
that  the  profits  derived  from  all  the  producing  industries  of 
the  country  will  not  more  than  pay  the  interest  on  these 
debts,  make  the  producers  thereafter  work  for  the  benefit 
of  the  money-lending  or  non-producing  class.  When  such 
a  condition  as  to  debts  arises  as  we  now  have,  all  money 
nearly  gravitates  into  the  hands  of  the  money-lenders  and 
piles  up  in  the  money  centers.  The  effect  of  debts  upon 


DEBT  AXD    SLAVERY. 


391 


civilization  has  never  been  understood  generally.  A  pros- 
perous country  can  carry  about  a  certain  proportion  of 
debt  among  its  people  without  apparent  injury,  but  when 
it  reaches  the  present  proportion — a  proportion  only 
reached  three  times  before  in  the  known  history  of  the 
world — it  produces  commercial  paralysis  and  the  financial 
enslavement  of  the  people.  All  the  people  make  goes  to 
pay  the  money-lenders  their  interest. 

"When  you  pay  money  to  a  merchant  or  a  manufacturer 
that  you  may  owe,  the  money  you  pay  him  is  paid  by  him 
to  others  for  material  and  other  products  of  his  business, 
with  no  charge  or  embargo  upon  it ;  but  when  you  pay 
back  to  a  money-lender  a  debt  you  owe  him,  the  money 
stops  there  until  it  is  loaned  out  again  to  come  back  with 
interest.  When  this  grows  to  such  an  extent  as  to  require 
all  or  most  of  the  money  in  the  country  to  pay  the  interest 
on  debts,  then  commerce  slackens  and  there  is  little  or  no 
money  among  the  people  except  as  loaned  out  by  the  banks 
and  others  whose  business  it  is  to  loan  money.  They  are 
dealing  in  the  blood  of  commerce,  and  when  they  take  it 
from  the  arteries  of  commerce  there  is  commercial  sickness 
and  distress." 

The  Abstract  of  the  Eleventh  Census  (page  189)  gives 
the  true  valuation  of  all  real  and  personal  property  in  the 
United  States  as  only  $65,037,091,198.  Against  this  we 
have  an  interest-bearing  debt  of  forty  billions. 

But  Mr.  Harvey's  figures  are  by  no  means  complete.  He 
says  nothing  about  the  capital  stock  of  the  great  railroad, 
telegraph,  telephone,  insurance  and  other  corporations, 
most  of  which  is  "water."  The  reader  may  say  that  this 
is  not  debt.  But  it  is  debt,  as  it  represents  what  the  com- 
panies owe  to  their  stockholders ;  it  draws  interest ;  it 
must  pay  salaries  and  dividends.  To  say  that  we  pay 
interest  every  year  on  forty-five  billions  is  a  very  conserva- 


392 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


live  statement.  And  the  debt  is  constantly  increasing,  for 
the  reason  that  there  is  not  in  circulation,  of  all  kinds  of 
money,  enough  to  pay  this  interest.  Let  us  figure  it  out. 
The  average  rate  of  interest  is  6^  per  cent.  Let  us  say  6 
per  cent.  At  this  rate  we  pay  each  year  $2,700,000,000 — 
over  $40  per  capita.  Think  of  it  !  Forty  dollars  interest 
for  every  man,  woman  and  child  !  Two  hundred  dollars 
for  every  family !  And  this  exclusive  of  taxation,  which 
adds  still  more  to  the  burdens  of  life.  The  most  blatant 
gold-bug  does  not  claim  that  there  is  $40  of  money  per 
capita  in  circulation.  There  can  be  only  one  result,  and 
that  result  is  abject,  hopeless  slavery — slavery  under  the 
guise  of  freedom,  but  still  slavery — unless  this  burden  of 
debt  is  thrown  off  before  the  patient  people  succumb 
entirely. 


VIII. 
THE  LAWS  OF  PROPERTY. 

BY  LYMAN  TRUMBULL. 

"Property,  or  the  dominion  of  man  over  external  objects,  has 
its  origin  from  the  Creator,  as  his  gift  to  mankind." — BLACK- 
STONE  (Dunlap's  Manual  of  the  General  Principles  of  Law). 

IT  is  chiefly  the  laws  of  property  which  have  enabled 
the  few  to  accumulate  vast  wealth  while  the  masses 
live  in  poverty.  For  many  generations  our  laws  have 
been  framed  with  a  view  to  the  claims  of  property  rather 
than  the  rights  of  man.  For  ages  the  money  power  has 
controlled  legislation  the  world  over,  and,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  has  exercised  a  controlling  influence  in  our  own  land 
for  many  years.  In  the  language  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence:  "All  men  are  created  equal  and  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." If  a  man  has  an  inalienable  right  to  life,  then  he 
has  a  right  to  the  means  which  sustain  life,  and  of  which 
he  cannot  be  justly  deprived  by  laws  which  permit  one 
man,  or  set  of  men,  to  so  absorb  the  means  of  life  as  not 
to  leave  sufficient  to  sustain  the  lives  of  all.  If  man  has 
an  inalienable  right  to  liberty,  then  he  cannot  be  justly 
deprived  of  liberty  by  another  who  assumes  the  right  at  his 
mere  discretion  to  abridge  it.  If  man  has  an  inalienable 
right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  then  he  cannot  be  justly 
deprived  of  that  right  by  laws  interposed  in  the  way  of  its 
pursuit. 

Do   such   laws    exist,    and    if    so,   how    came  they  into 
existence? 

393 


394 


PRESEX'l    DAY  PROBLEMS. 


In  Great  Britain,  whence  we  have  derived  most  of  our 
laws  of  property,  the  policy  is  to  build  up  great  estates. 
Hence,  by  the  laws  of  that  country,  land  descends  to  the 
eldest  son,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other  children.  The 
effect  of  this  is  to  limit  the  ownership  of  land  to  a  few 
persons.  Thirty-four  persons  in  that  country  own  six 
million  two  hundred  and  eleven  thousand  acres  of  land. 
The  Duke  of  Sutherland  is  said  to  own  one  million  three 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  thousand  acres,  and  a  few  other 
dukes  and  earls  own  a  great  proportion  of  the  land  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  What  has  brought  about  this  wide 
difference  in  the  ownership  of  land?  Certainly  the  few 
who  own  the  millions  of  acres,  from  which  they  derive 
revenue,  in  some  instances  of  more  than  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  annually,  in  rentals,  have  not  earned 
these  vast  estates  by  their  own  industry,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  by  force  of  statutory  enactments  that  these  vast 
estates  have  been  accumulated  and  perpetuated  in  few 
hands. 

In  this  country  we  have  abolished  the  law  of  primogeni- 
ture, by  which  the  eldest  son  inherited  the  landed  estate 
of  his  ancestor,  but  here  vast  estates  are  being  rapidly 
accumulated  in  few  hands,  and  this  is  especially  true 
during  and  since  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  In  1860  there 
were  few  millionaires  and  few  large  fortunes  in  this  coun- 
try, but  since  then  a  rich  class  has  sprung  up,  so  that  in 
1890,  according  to  reliable  statistics,  ten  per  cent,  of  the 
people  own  as  much  wealth  as  the  other  ninety  per  cent. 
In  1890  there  were  12,690,182  families  in  the  United 
States,  and  according  to  George  K.  Holmes,  in  the 
Political  Science  Quarterly,  4,047  of  these  possessed  about 
seven-tenths  as  much  as  do  11,593,887  families.  Just 
think  of  it.  One  family  possessing  the  wealth  of  2,000 
families  the  country  over!  In  the  city  of  New  York  alone 


THE  LAWS  OF  PROPERTY. 


395 


there  are  said  to  be  five  men  whose  aggregate  wealth 
exceeds  $500,000,000.  How  many  hundred  millions  are 
held  by  various  wealthy  corporations,  coal  and  oil  syn- 
dicates and  other  trusts,  I  am  unable  to  state.  In  the  cities 
of  New  York  and  Chicago  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women,  willing  to  work,  were  out  of  employment 
last  winter,  many  of  whom  must  have  perished  from  want 
but  for  charity's  aid.  These  conditions  another  winter 
promise  to  be  no  better. 

The  richest  corporations  and  persons  on  earth  are  prob- 
ably in  the  United  States.  How  have  they  accumulated 
their  vast  fortunes?  Surely  not  by  their  own  industry  and 
thrift,  but  by  the  aid  of  statutes  regulating  the  rights  of 
property,  generally  statutes  providing  for  the  transmission 
of  property  by  descent  or  by  will,  or  the  creation  of 
monopolies. 

It  is  only  by  virtue  of  statutory  law  that  man  is  per- 
mitted to  make  disposition  of  his  property  by  will,  and  it 
is  only  by  virtue  of  statutory  law  that  one  person  is  per- 
mitted to  inherit  property  from  another,  and  it  is  by  virtue 
of  statute  law  that  great  corporate  monopolies  have  been 
built  up. 

No  man  has  a  natural  right  to  dispose  of  property  after 
death,  nor  has  one  person  a  natural  right  to  inherit  prop- 
erty from  another.  As  Blackstone  says:  "There  is  no 
foundation  in  nature  or  in  natural  law  why  the  son  should 
have  the  right  to  exclude  his  fellow  creatures  from  a 
determinate  spot  of  land  because  his  father  did  so  before 
him,  or  why  the  occupier  of  a  particular  field  or  of  a  jewel, 
when  lying  on  his  death-bed,  and  no  longer  able  to  main- 
tain possession,  should  be  able  to  tell  the  rest  of  the  world 
which  of  them  should  enjoy  it  after  him." 

Under  Illinois  laws,  the  owner  of  real  estate  is  permitted 
to  lease  it  for  an  indefinite  period,  and  compel  future 


396  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

generations  who  occupy  the  premises  to  pay  rent  to  unborn 
generations.  Leases  for  ninety-nine  years  are  quite  com- 
mon in  Chicago.  It  is  by  no  divine  law  that  the  occupant 
of  land  to-day  is  allowed  to  compel  its  occupant  one 
hundred  years  hence  to  pay  tribute  for  its  use.  The  stat- 
utes of  Illinois  have  given  to  the  owner  of  property  the 
right  to  dispose  of  it  by  will,  not  wholly,  but  to  a  certain 
extent.  If  married,  neither  the  husband  nor  wife  can  give 
away  the  homestead  or  dower  rights  of  the  other,  nor  can 
creditors,  heirs  or  devisees  take  from  the  widow  her 
allowance. 

The  money  power  has  governed  legislation  in  all  civilized 
countries  for  generations.  It  matters  not  what  party  is  in 
power  in  the  national  or  State  governments  of  our  own 
country,  the  money  power  has  exercised  a  controlling  influ- 
ence in  many  instances  in  the  shaping  and  administration 
of  our  laws. 

If  the  accumulation  of  vast  fortunes  goes  on  another 
generation  with  the  same  accelerated  rapidity  as  during  the 
present,  the  wealth  of  this  country  will  soon  be  consoli- 
dated in  the  hands  of  a  few  corporations  and  individuals 
to  as  great  an  extent  as  the  landed  interests  of  Great  Britain 
now  are. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  state  of  things,  which,  if 
permitted  to  continue,  will  make  the  masses  of  the  people 
dependent  upon  the  generosity  of  the  few  for  the  means  to 
live?  So  far  as  concerns  corporations  of  a  public  or  quasi- 
public  character — and  none  others  should  exist — the  rem- 
edy is  simple.  They  are  completel}'  under  the  control  of 
the  legislatures,  whence  they  derive  all  their  powers. 

It  is  entirely  competent  for  a  legislature  to  provide  the 
manner  iu  which  the  business  of  a  corporation  shall  be 
conducted.  It  may  provide  that  the  directors  shall  consist 
of  few  or  many  persons,  that  a  portion  of  them  shall  be  taken 


7 HE  LAWS  OF  PROPERTY. 


397 


from  the  employes  of  the  corporation,  selected  by  them, 
another  part  from  the  stockholders  who  furnish  the  capital 
for  carrying  on  its  business.  It  may  provide  that  the 
employes  shall  first  be  paid  from  the  revenues  of  the  com- 
pany a  certain  fixed  sum,  graduated  according  to  the  char- 
ater  of  the  work  performed  by  each ;  that  a  fair  rate  of 
interest  shall  then  be  paid  upon  the  capital  invested,  and 
the  balance  be  distributed  upon  some  equitable  principle 
between  the  employes  and  the  stockholders.  In  case  of 
loss  the  stockholders  would  have  to  suffer,  since  the 
employe,  having  a  right  to  live,  must  in  all  cases  receive 
his  daily  wages  when  dependent  upon  them  for  subsistence. 
This  principle  receives  judicial  sanction  from  United  States 
Circuit  Judge  Caldwell,  in  his  order  entered  in  case 
of  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  as  follows : 

"Ordered  that  the  men  employed  by  the  receivers  in  the 
operation  of  the  road  and  the  conduct  of  its  business  shall 
be  paid  their  monthly  wages  not  later  than  the  I5th  of  the 
month  following  their  accrual.  If  the  earnings  of  the  road 
are  not  sufficient  to  pay  the  wages  of  the  men  as  herein 
directed,  the  receivers  are  hereby  authorized  and  required 
to  borrow  from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  may  require,  a 
sufficient  sum  of  money  for  that  purpose.  The  obligations 
of  the  receivers  for  money  borrowed  for  this  purpose 
specified  in  this  order  shall  constitute  a  lien  on  the  prop- 
erty of  the  trust  prior  and  superior  to  all  other  liens 
thereon." 

Under  the  powers  inherent  in  every  sovereignty,  govern- 
ment may  regulate  the  conduct  of  its  citizens  toward  each 
other,  and,  when  nececsary  for  the  public  good,  the  man- 
ner in  which  each  shall  use  his  own  property. 

Formerly,  corporations  having  special  privileges  were 
created  by  special  acts,  which  the  courts  construed  to  be 
contracts  between  the  granting  power  and  the  corporators 
which,  once  granted,  could  not  be  repealed  or  varied  by  the 
granting  power.  This  granting  of  charters  to  favored  indi- 


39g  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

viduals,  conferring  upon  them  privileges  not  possessed  by 
the  general  public,  became  obnoxious  to  public  sentiment, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  general  laws  have  been  passed  in 
this  and  many  other  States,  under  which  any  three  persons 
may  become  incorporated  for  any  private  purpose.  This 
has  become  a  worse  evil  than  the  old  system  of  granting 
special  charters.  Under  the  general  law  enacted  in  this 
State  twenty  years  ago,  I  am  informed,  27,200  corporations 
have  been  created. 

Irresponsible  persons  are  often  induced,  for  a  small  con- 
sideration, to  form  corporations  with  a  proposed  capital  of 
millions ;  to  subscribe  for  the  whole  stock  except  a  share 
or  two,  and,  for  a  fancied,  imaginary  or  worthless  consid- 
eration, to  issue  to  themselves  fully  paid  up  stock,  which  is 
subsequently  transferred  to  the  real  parties  in  interest,  who 
expect  thereby  to  escape  personal  liability  if  the  concern  is 
a  failure,  and  to  pocket  the  profits  if  a  success.  Business 
of  all  sorts  is  now  to  a  great  extent  carried  on  in  the  name 
of  corporations,  in  order  that  the  proprietors  may  escape 
personal  responsibility.  How  can  the  individual,  who  is 
personally  responsible  for  his  contracts,  successfully  com- 
pete with  a  corporation  run  by  persons  who  incur  no  such 
responsibility?  Doing  business  in  a  corporate  name  not 
only  paralyzes  individual  effort,  but  leads  to  a  concentra- 
tion of  capital — the  great  evil  of  our  time.  The  remedy 
for  this  growing  state  of  things  would  be  to  restrict  the 
formation  of  corporations  to  such  as  are  formed  for  public 
purposes,  or  such  as  the  public  have  an  interest  in. 
Seventy-eight  per  cent,  of  the  great  fortunes  of  the  United 
States  are  said  to  be  derived  from  permanent  monopoly 
privileges  which  ought  never  to  have  been  granted. 

As  before  stated,  the  power  to  dispose  of  property  after 
death  by  will  is  conferred  by  statute,  under  certain  limita- 
tions. Why  should  this  privilege  be  given  to  dispose  of 


THE  LAWS  Oh'  PROPERTY. 


399 


more  than  a  fixi-d  amount  of  property  to  auy  one 
individual?  Say  property  to  the  value  of  not  over  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the  wife,  of  not  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  each  child,  and  of  not 
more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  any  other  relative, 
extending  to  the  third  or  fourth  degree,  and  that  the 
balance  of  the  estate  should  escheat  to  the  State,  to  be 
used  by  it  for  the  support  of  schools,  charitable  institu- 
tions, the  employment  of  laborers  in  making  roads,  and 
other  good  purposes. 

The  law  now  provides  for  the  escheat  of  estates  of  per- 
sons dying  without  heirs.  The  same  limitation  might  be 
put  upon  inheritances  where  there  is  no  will,  and  in  this 
way  the  accumulation  of  vast  estates  by  inheritance  or 
devise  would  be  checked,  and  property,  especially  landed 
estates,  which  by  nature  belong  to  all,  would  be  more 
equally  distributed.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
method  of  transmitting  property  from  the  dead  to  the 
living  is  entirely  derived  from  the  state.  If  public  policy 
requires  that  the  state  should  give  to  the  dying  possessor, 
no  longer  able  to  control  or  take  with  him  his  possessions, 
the  privilege  of  disposing  of  so  much  as  may  be  conducive 
to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of  his  surviving  kindred, 
does  it  require  that  this  privilege  should  be  extended  to 
his  disposition  of  millions  to  the  injury  of  the  rest  of 
mankind? 

If  it  be  said  that  to  limit  the  privilege  of  disposing  of 
exceeding  a  million  dollars  of  property  by  devise  or  descent 
would  check  enterprise  and  industry,  as  no  man  would 
struggle  to  acquire  property  which  he  could  not  leave  to 
his  surviving  kindred,  my  reply  is,  that  man  by  his  own 
thrift  and  industry  is  seldom  able  to  acquire  more  than  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  property.  Fortunes  exceeding 
that  amount  are  usually  acquired  by  speculation,  trickery, 


400 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


or  some  device  by  which  one  man  takes  advantage  of  his 
fellow-man,  and  which,  if  not  illegal,  is  immoral;  or  by 
members  of  privileged  monopolies,  trusts  and  syndicates. 

I  don't  mean  to  say  that  all  great  fortunes  exceeding  a 
million  have  been  acquired  by  immoral  means,  but  such 
as  have  not  are  the  exception,  and  to  limit  the  privilege  of 
disposing  of  more  than  a  million  by  devise  or  descent 
would  not  affect  one  in  ten  thousand  of  the  people.  In 
short,  such  limitation  would  tend  to  discourage,  not 
honest  enterprise  and  industry,  but  stock-jobbing,  trickery 
and  other  questionable  methods  of  acquiring  vast  fortunes. 

We  have  already  abolished  primogeniture,  by  which  the 
eldest  son,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  children,  inherits 
the  entire  landed  estate  of  his  ancestor,  and  no  one  in  this 
country  at  this  day  would  think  of  restoring  that  right, 
although  it  still  obtains  in  England.  If  limitations  should 
be  put  upon  the  disposition  of  vast  estates  by  will  or 
descent,  future  generations  would  doubtless  look  upon  our 
present  laws,  which  allow  such  estates  to  be  perpetuated 
in  certain  families,  with  the  same  disfavor  with  which  we 
now  look  upon  the  laws  of  primogeniture. 

Evasions  of  laws  limiting  the  amount  of  property  to  be 
devised  or  inherited,  by  conveyance  during  life,  could  be 
prohibited  in  like  manner  as  conveyances  in  fraud  of 
creditors  are  now  prohibited. 


IX. 
DIRECT  LEGISLATION. 

THE      INITIATIVE      AND      REFERENDUM. 

''  No  people  can  be  self-governing  who  are  denied  the  right  to 
vote  '  yes  '  or  '  no  '  on  every  law  by  which  they  are  to  be  gov- 
erned."  El. TWEED  POMEROY. 

THE  Initiative  gives  the  people  the  power  to  compel 
the  legislature  to  put  in  form  all  such  laws  as  they 
may  initiate  or  demand  by  a  preliminary  vote. 

The  Referendum  gives  the  people  the  power  to  reject  or 
ratify  any  legislation  enacted  by  the  legislature.  All  legis- 
lative enactments  to  be  referred  to  the  people  for  their 
ratification  by  vote  before  they  become  laws. 

The  Imperative  Mandate  gives  the  people  the  right  to 
vote  out  of  office  at  any  time  men  who  fail  to  serve  the 
public  or  who  are  untrue  to  their  pledges. 

Proportional  Representation  secures  the  representation  of 
all  parties  in  proportion  to  their  numerical  strength. 

Representative  Government  means  government  by  repre- 
sentatives elected  by  the  people,  but  independent  of  the 
people  after  election  and  empowered  to  ignore  or  overrule 
the  people's  will. 

Popular  Government,  or  democracy,  means  government  of, 
for  and  by  the  people.  It  will  be  possible  only  when  all 
officeholders  are  honest  or  when  the  people's  represent- 
atives are  made  subject  to  the  people's  will  by  the  adoption 
of  the  referendum.  History  proves  that  permanent  popu- 
lar government  without  direct  legislation  is  impossible. 

There  is  a  radical  difference-  between  a  democracy  and  a 

401 


402 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


representative  government.  Whenever  a  people  are  quali- 
fied for  self-government  no  power  on  earth  can  prevent 
them  from  exercising  that  right.  The  American  people 
have  been  too  busy  "making  money"  to  study  their  real 
economic  needs,  and  the  result  is  that  irresponsible  dema- 
gogues have  made  laws  which  have  plunged  the  nation  into 
almost  hopeless  debt,  paralyzed  its  business  and  impover- 
ished most  of  the  people.  The  voters  have  several  times 
of  late  risen  in  their  wrath  and  "turned  the  rascals  out," 
but  it  was  only  to  elect  another  set  of  rascals,  of  different 
political  complexion,  perhaps,  but  equally  dishonest  and 
equally  irresponsible.  The  so-called  "landslides"  in 
recent  elections,  while  they  have  resulted  in  no  real 
reform,  indicate  that  the  people  have  begun  to  think. 
Soon  they  will  realize  that  they  can  control  their  own 
government  only  by  keeping  the  legislation  in  their  own 
hands — that  they  must  not  delegate  their  sovereignty  to 
representatives  or  servants,  by  whatever  name  they  may 
be  known.  It  is  only  by  means  of  the  initiative  and 
the  referendum  that  the  people  can  maintain  their  suprem- 
acy. The  general  adoption  of  this  system  is  the  next  step 
in  the  world's  progress. 

The  initiative  and  referendum  will  take  the  element  of 
partisanship  out  of  the  settlement  of  economic  questions, 
and  this  alone  is  sufficient  reason  why  it  should  be  adopted. 
Suppose  the  question  of  tariff  were  submitted  to  the  people 
to  vote  on.  Members  of  all  parties  would  vote  for  it  and 
against  it,  and  the  majority  would  decide.  It  would 
become  a  question  of  economics,  not  a  partisan  issue,  and 
would  be  settled  on  its  merits.  The  same  with  the  free 
coinage  of  silver,  paper  money,  public  ownership  of  rail- 
roads, prohibition,  and  every  other  great  question  which 
the  old  political  parties  have  straddled  or  evaded. 

But  the  principal  advantage  of  the  referendum  is  that  it 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION. 

would  do  away  entirely  with  the  lobby — "  the  third  house." 
There  would  be  no  inducement  for  any  one  to  bribe  the 
lawmakers.  They  might  sell  their  individual  votes,  but 
these  would  be  worthless,  as  only  the  people  could 
"deliver  the  goods."  The  people  would  be  quick  to  see 
the  value  of  the  franchises  and  privileges  which  are  now 
being  practically  given  away,  to  be  used  by  corporations 
to  still  further  enslave  the  masses. 

Switzerland  is  the  home  of  the  referendum.  It  is  com- 
monly believed  that  that  republic  has  existed  for  six  hun- 
dred years.  The  fact,  however,  is  that  it  is  the  youngest 
of  republics.  The  characteristic  features  of  the  govern- 
ment, those  which  make  it  a  republic  in  fact  as  well  as  in 
name,  were  instituted  by  the  present  generation.  It  is  the 
only  country  in  the  world  to-day  which  has  overthrown  its 
plutocracy  and  which  has  made  it  impossible  for  corrupt 
politicians  to  rule  the  people  through  the  representative 
system.  To  the  principle  of  direct  legislation,  as  carried 
out  by  the  initiative  and  referendum  must  be  ascribed  the 
happy  conditions  which  surround  its  politics.  Mr.  W.  D. 
McCrackan,  author  of  "The  Rise  of  the  Swiss  Republic," 
who  has  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject,  has  published 
in  the  Arena  his  observations  of  Swiss  politics.  He  finds 
that,  as  a  result  of  the  referendum,  jobbery  and  extrava- 
gance are  unknown,  and  that  politics,  as  there  is  no  money 
in  it,  has  ceased  to  be  a  trade.  Officeholders  are  taken 
from  the  ranks  of  citizenship  and  are  invariably  chosen 
because  of  their  fitness  for  the  work.  The  people  take  an 
intelligent  interest  in  the  legislation,  local  and  federal,  and 
are  fully  imbued  with  a  sense  of  their  political  responsi- 
bilities. The  Westminster  Review,  speaking  of  the  referen- 
dum, expresses  this  opinion: 

"The  bulk  of  the  people  move  more  slowly  than  their 
representatives,  are  more  cautious  in  adopting  new  and 


4°4 


PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 


trying  legislative  experiments  and  have  a  tendency  to 
reject  propositions  submitted  to  them  for  the  first  time.  .  .  . 
The  issue  which  is  presented  to  the  sovereign  people  is 
invariably  and  necessarily  reduced  to  its  simplest  expres- 
sion and  so  placed  before  them  as  to  be  capable  of  an 
affirmative  or  negative  answer.  In  practice,  therefore,  the 
discussion  of  details  is  left  to  the  representative  assem- 
blies, while  the  public  express  approval  or  disapproval  of 
the  general  principle  or  policy  embraced  in  the  proposed 
measure.  Public  attention  being  confined  to  the  issue, 
leaders  are  nothing.  Collective  wisdom  judges  of  merits." 

In  some  of  the  cantons  of  Switzerland  the  referendum 
has  been  in  practice  since  the  sixteenth  century.  As  it  is 
now  employed  it  was  adopted  by  the  canton  of  St.  Gallen 
in  1830,  and  in  1848  it  was  incorporated  in  the  Swiss  fed- 
eral constitution.  It  has  been  so  extended  since  then  that 
it  is  now  in  operation  in  all  the  Swiss  cantons  except 
Freiburg. 

According  to  the  Swiss  constitution  all  amendments 
thereto  must  be  ratified  by  the  Swiss  electors  before  they 
become  effective.  Other  measures,  like  ordinary  enact- 
ments, must  be  submitted  to  a  popular  vote  if  a  demand  is 
made  for  such  submission,  written  ninety  days  after  their 
publication.  This  demand  must  be  made  by  30,000  voters 
or  by  the  government  of  eight  of  the  nineteen  entire  and 
six  half  cantons.  In  Switzerland  the  referendum  has 
proved  to  be  entirely  satisfactory  as  a  check  upon  hasty  or 
class  legislation. 

In  his  valuable  book,  "Direct  Legislation,"  J.  W.  Sulli- 
van thus  recounts  what  the  Swiss  have  done  by  direct 
legislation  : 

"They  have  made  it  easy  at  any  time  to  alter  their  can- 
tonal or  federal  constitutions — that  is,  to  change,  even 
radically,  the  organization  of  society,  the  social  contract, 
and  thus  to  permit  a  peaceful  revolution  at  the  will  of  the 
majority.  They  have  as  well  cleared  from  the  way  of 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION. 


405 


majority  rule  every  obstacle — privilege  of  ruler,  fetter  of 
ancient  law,  power  of  legislator.  They  have  simplified 
the  structure  of  government,  held  their  officials  as  servants, 
rendered  bureaucracy  impossible,  converted  their  repre- 
sentatives to  simple  committeemen,  and  shown  the  parlia- 
mentary system  not  essential  to  law-making.  They  have 
written  their  laws  in  language  so  plain  that  a  layman  may 
be  judge  in  the  highest  court.  They  have  forestalled 
monopolies,  improved  and  reduced  taxation,  avoided 
incurring  heavy  public  debts,  and  made  a  better  distribu- 
tion of  their  land  than  any  other  European  country.  They 
have  practically  given  home  rule  in  local  affairs  to  every 
community.  They  have  calmed  disturbing  political  ele- 
ments; the  press  is  purified,  the  politician  disarmed,  the 
civil  service  well  regulated.  Hurtful  partisanship  is  passing 
away.  Since  the  people  as  a  whole  will  never  willingly  sur- 
render their  sovereignty,  reactionary  movement  is  possible 
only  in  case  the  nation  should  go  backward.  But  the  way 
is  open  forward.  Social  ideals  may  be  realized  in  act  and 
institution.  Even  now  the  liberty-loving  Swiss  citizen  can 
discern  in  the  future  a  freedom  in  which  every  individual 
— independent,  possessed  of  rights  in  nature's  resources 
and  in  command  of  the  fruits  of  his  toil — may,  at  his  will, 
on  the  sole  condition  that  he  respect  the  like  aim  of  other 
men,  pursue  his  happiness." 

Proportional  Representation. 

The  term  proportional  representation  has  come  to  be 
generally  applied  to  a  method  of  electing  representatives 
whereby  the  representation  shall  be  in  proportion  to  the 
votes  polled  by  the  several  parties,  or  groups  of  voters, 
as  against  the  present  method  of  electing  them  from  single 
districts  by  a  plurality  vote.  To  effect  this  end  numerous 
plans  have  been  put  forth. 

The  cumulative  vote  allows  the  voter  as  many  votes  as 
there  are  representatives  to  be  elected  and  permits  him  to 
distribute  them  as  he  pleases  among  the  candidates.  This 
method  is  applied  in  a  limited  degree  to  the  choice  of 
members  of  the  lower  house  of  the  Illinois  legislatxire. 


406  PRESENT  DAY  PROBLEMS. 

Each  district  elects  three  members,  and  the  voter  can  cast 
three  votes  for  one  candidate,  one  and  a  half  votes  for  two, 
or  one  vote  each  for  three. 

With  the  limited  or  restricted  vote  the  voter  has  a  less 
number  of  votes  than  the  number  of  representatives  to  be 
elected.  Thus  in  the  city  of  Boston  the  new  law  allows 
the  voter  to  vote  for  only  seven  aldermen  on  one  ticket, 
and  declares  the  twelve  candidates  receiving  the  highest 
vote  elected. 

The  prefere ntial,  or,  as  it  is  commonly  known,  the  Hare 
vote,  allows  the  voter  to  cast  one  ballot  upon  which  he  has 
named  as  many  candidates  as  he  sees  fit,  the  candidates 
named  being  understood  to  represent  the  first,  second, 
third,  etc.,  choice.  The  whole  number  of  ballots  cast  is 
divided  by  the  number  of  representatives  to  be  chosen, 
and  the  quotient  is  the  quota,  or  number  of  votes  required 
to  elect  one  candidate.  In  counting  the  ballots  the  first 
choices  are  read  first ;  the  candidate  who  receives  a  quota 
is  declared  elected,  and  the  remaining  votes  cast  for  him 
are  counted  for  the  next  name  on  the  ballot  who  is  the 
second  choice  of  the  voter. 

The  free  list,  or  Swiss  vote,  allows  the  voter  to  vote  for  a 
list  or  ticket,  as  we  do  in  this  country,  and  to  designate 
preferences  on  the  list.  The  total  vote  is  divided  as  in  the 
Hare  system  to  get  the  quota,  and  the  several  parties  are 
apportioned  representatives  according  to  the  number  of 
quotas  they  have.  The  successful  candidates  are  those 
standing  highest  on  their  respective  lists.  This  method  is 
now  in  use  in  Switzerland  for  the  election  of  representatives. 

The  Gave  system  is  a  modified  form  of  the  Hare  method. 
Instead  of  the  voter  naming  the  candidates  whom  he  pre- 
fers, the  candidates  themselves  before  election  announce 
to  whom  they  will  give  their  surplus  vote. 

The  proxy  vote  is  simply  an  introduction  of  the  corpora- 


DIRECT  LEGISLATION 


407 


tion  vote  into  legislative  bodies.  The  candidates  who  are 
elected  in  the  legislative  assembly  cast,  not  their  individual 
votes,  as  at  present,  but  the  number  of  proxies  they  hold. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  are  three  principles  involved 
in  these  several  methods,  the  election  by  cumulation  of 
votes,  the  election  by  quotas,  and  the  vote  by  proxies. 
The  cumulative  vote  was  the  first  to  be  put  into  actual 
service,  being  used  in  England  for  the  election  of  mem- 
bers of  school  boards,  etc.,  and  in  this  country  in  the 
so-called  three-cornered  districts  for  the  election  of  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature.  It  still  has  the  support  of  quite  a 
number  of  persons,  but  its  limitations  are  now  coming  to 
be  recognized.  John  Stuart  Mill,  who  was  an  advocate  of 
the  cumulative  vote,  declared  it  to  be  merely  a  makeshift  in 
comparison  with  the  quota  system  of  Hare.  The  objec- 
tion to  the  cumulative  vote  lies  in  the  fact  that  if  the  dis- 
tricts are  small  only  two  parties  can  obtain  representation, 
and  these  in  an  arbitrary  wa)f,  while  if  the  districts  be 
larger,  that  is,  if  the  number  of  representatives  in  the  dis- 
trict be  made  greater,  the  waste  and  uncertainty  is  appar- 
ent. A  party  may  decide  to  vote  for  four  candidates  when 
it  has  votes  enough  to  elect  six ;  or  it  may  try  for  six  when 
it  has  votes  for  only  four.  In  either  case  it  is  deprived  of 
a  part  of  its  just  share  in  the  representation.  The  proxy 
system  contains  some  theoretical  merits,  but  it  is  feared 
that  in  practice  it  would  not  work  well  at  present.  The 
tendency  to  hero-worship  would  prompt  so  many  voters  to 
give  their  proxies  to  a  few  favorites  that  the  real  voting 
strength  of  the  assembly  would  be  in  the  hands  of  two  or 
three  men,  thus  destroying  its  value  as  a  deliberative  body. 

The  real  strength  of  proportional  representation  lies  in 
some  form  of  the  quota  principle,  and  the  tendency  in  this 
county,  as  in  Switzerland  and  Belgium,  is  toward  the 
free  list. 


I 


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of  the  times  has  yet  appeared. 

Ten  Men  of  Money  Island. 

A  Primer  of  Finance.     By  S.  F.  NORTON.     12mo,  142  pages, 
enameled  paper  cover,  25  cents. 

Over  half  a  million  copies  of  this  wonderful  book  have  been 
sold. 

"It  gives  the  principles  of  money  in  the  form  of  a  story  so 
interesting  and  in  such  simple  language  that  even  a  child  can 
read  it  with  understanding.    This  is  undoubtedly  the  simplest 
book  that  has  ever  been  written  on  the  principles  of  money. "- 
JOHN  B   GILL,  Secretary  American  Economic  Reform  Society. 

3 


BOOKS  OF  THE  SCHULTE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

"No  man  or  woman  born  will,  after  reading  'Ten  Men  of 
Money  Island,'  deny  that  the  money  it  cost  was  well  invested." 
New  York  World. 

The  Voter's  X-Rays. 

By  CLARENCE  T.   ATKINSON.    12mo,   132    pages.     Cloth,   75 
cents  ;  paper,  25  cents. 

"This  book  intelligently  sets  forth  the  condition  of  national 
affairs  as  they  exist  to-day,  and  its  whole  tendency  is  toward 
the  instruction  of  the  great  mass  of  voters  who  have  not  the 
time  to  personally  study  the  many  intricate  details  of  American 
politics. ' ' — Burlington  Gazette. 

A  Tramp  in  Society. 

By  ROBERT  H.   COWDREY.    12mo,  242  pages;   paper  cover, 
25  cents. 

"Thrilling  and  fascinating.  No  one  who  reads  it  can  restrain 
admiration  for  the  man  who  can  write  a  story  that  contains 
in  its  warp  and  woof  so  much  that  is  helpful  and  bettering  to 
humanity," — OPIE  READ. 

"We  have  had  many  novels  of  late  with  new  economic 
schemes  for  a  basis,  but  mostly  advertising  state  socialism.  At 
last  we  have  the  individualistic  novel,  and  it  ought  to  win  wide- 
spread favor.  Mr.  Cowdrey  has  strong  conviction,  a  good 
command  of  English  and  strong  imagination."  —  St.  Louis 
Republic. 

An  Indiana  Man. 

By  LE  ROY  ARMSTRONG.    12mo,  218  pages     Paper,  25  cents. 

"A  powerful  novel,  charmingly  written  So  true  to  the  real 
life  of  modern  politics  as  to  seem  more  like  history  and  biogra- 
phy than  romance." — Inter  Ocean. 

"It  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  fight  against  the  saloon 
that '  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  '  did  to  the  fight  against  slavery  " 
JOHN  P.  ST.  JOHN. 

Beneath  the  Dome. 

By  ARNOLD  CLARK.     Large  12mo,  361  pages.    Cloth  extra, 
gilt  top,  stamped  in  black  and  silver,  $1.25.     Paper,  50c. 

"  An  attractive  novel,  in  which  the  best  thoughts  on  economic 
reform  are  entwined  with  fiction,  making  a  book  that  will 

4 


BOOKS  OF  THE  SCHULTE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

captivate  and  please  the  reader,  yet  turn  his  thoughts  to  the 
great  needs  of  humanity." — Arena. 

"No  one  can  read  this  book  without  being  made  a  better  man 
or  woman." — Progressive  Farmer. 

Caesar's   Column. 

By  IGNATIUS  DONNELLY.  12mo,  367  pages.  Cloth,  1.25; 
paper,  50  cents. 

A  story  of  the  twentieth  century  and  the  downfall  of  pluto- 
cratic civilization.  Thirtieth  edition. 

"As  an  example  of  the  highest  literary  form  it  deserves 
unstinted  praise." — CARDINAL  GIBBONS. 

"A  very  extraordinary  production."—  RT.  REV.  HENRY  C. 
POTTER. 

"The  book  is  a  plea,  and  a  striking  one.  Its  plot  is  bold,  its 
language  is  forceful,  and  the  great  uprising  is  given  with 
terrible  vividness." — Public  Opinion. 

Hell  Up  To  Date. 

The  Journey  of  R.  PALASCO  DRANT,  Newspaper  Correspond- 
ent, through  the  Infernal  Regions,  as  reported  by  him- 
self. Illustrated  by  ART  YOUNG.  Popular  edition,  extra 
cloth  binding,  $1.00 ;  paper,  50  cents. 

THE  HUMOROUS  HIT  OF  THE  AGE. 

"Fifty  years  ago  this  book  would  have  been  viewed  with 
alarm  by  the  pious  community.  A  century  ago  its  author 
would  have  been  ostracised  for  profanity  :  two  centuries  ago  he 
would  have  been  imprisoned  as  a  heretic,  and  when  Columbus 
lived  he  would  have  been  burned  at  the  stake  for  his  risible 
attack  on  the  old  belief." — Kansas  City  Star. 

Old  'Kaskia  Days. 

An  American  Historical  Novel.  By  ELIZABETH  HOLBROOK. 
Large  12mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.50.  Paper,  25  cents. 

"  A  delightful  picture  of  one  of  the  oldest  settlements  west 
of  the  Alleghenies.  There  is  a  pleasant  quaintness  in  the  style 
of  this  novel,  which  is  interesting  as  a  story  and  as  a  record, 
and  the  local  illustrations  are  important." — Review  of  Review*. 

In  Sunflower  Land. 

Stories  of  God's  Own  Country.  By  ROSWELL  MARTIN  FIELD. 
12mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.25.  * 

"  A  delightful  volume.     The  title  of  the   book  refers  to   the 


BOOKS  OF  THE  SCHULTE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

typical  flower  of  Missouri  and  Kansas,  of  which  two  States  Mr. 
Field  is  the  prose  laureate  " — Chicago  Tribune. 

Francis  Bacon  and  His  Secret  Society. 

An  Attempt  to  Collect  and  Unite  the  Lost  Links  of  a  Long 
and  Strong  Chain.  By  MRS.  HENRY  POTT,  editor  of 
"  Bacon's  Promus."  Illustrated  with  twenty-seven  full- 
page  plates  Post  8vo,  421  pages,  cloth  extra,  gilt 
top.  Price,  $2.00. 

"  Perhaps  the  most  exhaustive  study  of  Bacon  and  his  works 
possible  to  any  writer  of  the  present,  or,  indeed,  any  future 
age . ' ' — Minneapolis  Times. 

Memoirs   of  the  International    Congress   of  Anthro- 
pology. 

Edited  by  C.  STANILAND  WAKE.  Illustrated.  Imperial  8vo, 
deckled  edges,  gilt  top.  Price,  $10  net.  Edition  limited, 
and  only  a  few  copies  still  unsold. 

"No  public  or  private  library  which  is  designed  to  present  to 
its  readers  the  attainments  of  our  age,  at  the  highwater  mark 
of  its  development,  should  be  without  this  remarkable  series  of 
reports. " — Critic. 

"  One  of  the  most  substantial  contributions  to  knowledge 
that  have  resulted  from  the  Chicago  Congresses  of  1893  is  this 
magnificent  volume." — Dial. 

The  White  Ribbon  Cook  Book. 

Economy  and  Wealth,  Temperance  and  Health  in  the  House- 
hold. A  Collection  of  Original  and  Revised  Recipes  in 
Cookery  and  Housekeeping.  Edited  by  KATHRYN  ARM- 
STRONG. 16mo,  275  pages,  cloth  extra,  75  cents. 

A  first-class  book,  prepared  by  a  practical  housekeeper. 
While  it  is  not  claimed  that  it  is  in  all  respects  superior  to  all 
other  books,  we  do  claim  that  any  housekeeper,  even  if  she  have 
a  dozen  other  cook  books,  will  find  this  one  worth  to  her  more 
than  the  price,  and  that  the  author  has  fully  carried  out  her 
purpose  :  "  To  prove  that  wine,  brandy  and  spirituous  liquors 
of  any  kind  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  that  no  culinary 
requirement  necessitates  the  introduction  of  these  poisons  into 
any  household." 

Sex  and  Life. 

The  Physiology  and  Hygiene  of  the  Sexual  Organization.  By 
ELI  F.  BROWN.  M.  S..  M.  D.  Illustrated.  16mo,  cloth 
extra,  $1.00.  [6] 


BOOKS  OF  THE  SCffULTE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

"A  very  sensible  book.  After  describing  the  common  sex 
principle  in  plants  and  animals  the  author  enters  upon  the 
discussion  of  conjugal  love,  heredity,  the  use  and  abuse  of  the 
sexual  passion,  and  other  topics  which  seldom  find  a  place  in 
a  volume  of  general  reading." — San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

"A  modest,  compact,  scientific  exposition." — Chicago  Times. 

"How  to  teach  such  truths  has  been  the  study  of  many  a 
teacher  and  many  a  parent.  There  is  but  one  proper  way,  and 
that  is  by  plain  facts  which,  while  teaching  the  truths  of 
science,  impress  upon  the  mind  the  grandeur  of  right  living. 
Dr.  Brown  strikes  these  chords  admirably." — Inter  Ocean. 

The  Little  Giant  Cyclopedia 

And  Treasury  of  Ready  Reference.  By  K.  L.  ARMSTRONG. 
16mo,  512  pages.  Flexible  morocco,  red  edges,  $1.00.  A 
million  and  one  facts  and  figures  84  colored  maps  and 
charts.  2,500  useful  tables,  recipes,  trade  secrets,  etc. 
Over  300,000  copies  sold.  Each  new  edition  revised  up 
to  date.  Sold  by  subscription. 

"One  of  the  marvels  of  the  day.  It  should  be  on  every 
writer's  table,  and  the  familiar  book  in  every  household." — 
Chicago  Leader. 

"This  wonderful  book  will  add  a  year  to  any  man's  lifetime, 
if  it  may  be  said  that  time  saved  is  time  snatched  from  the 
grave.  The  merchant,  the  mechanic,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor, 
the  teacher  and  the  scholar  will  all  find,  in  this  compac' 
volume,  much  information  pertaining  to  all  the  various  intei- 
ests  of  life."  —  Tribune. 

"I  have  added  'THE  LITTLE  GIANT'  to  my  library,  wher-,,  it 
has  a  most  desirable  front  seat." — JOHN  A.  COCKERILL,  late 
Editor-in-chief  New  York  World. 

Armstrong's  Giant  Cyclopedia 

And  Treasury  of  Practical  Knowledge.  By  K.  L.  ARM- 
STRONG. Quarto,  512  double-column  pages,  cloth,  red 
edges,  $2.50;  half  morocco,  marbled  edges,  $3.50;  full 
morocco,  gilt  edges,  $4.50.  Illustrated  with  colored 
charts  and  diagrams. 

This  book  answers  more  of  the  questions  of  everyday  life 
than  all  the  cyclopedias  combined,  whether  published  in  one  or 
twenty-six  volumes.  Sold  by  subscription. 


BOOKS  OF  THE  SCHULTE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

Memorial  to  Brian  Boroimhe. 

A  Genealogical  History  of  the  Milesian  Families  of  Ireland, 
with  a  Chart  of  their  Armorial  Bearing's.  Price,  $5.00. 
Sold  by  subscription. 

Betsy  Gaskins  (Dimicrat). 

By  W.  I.  HOOD.  With  120  illustrations  by  C.  B.  FALLS,  and 
an  appendix  edited  by  K.  L.  ARMSTRONG.  Post  8vo, 
over  400  pages. 

Sold  by  subscription  only. 

This  wonderful  book  is  the  sensation  of  the  last  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  is  exerting  a  powerful  influence  in  the 
battle  of  the  people  against  the  money  power.  It  is  the  most 
timely  and  most  original  book  which  has  ever  come  from  the  pen 
and  brain  of  an  American  author.  It  will  make  you  laugh  It 
will  make  you  cry.  It  will  make  you  think.  It  will  sweep  the 
cobwebs  out  of  your  brain. 


IT  is  an  easy  matter  to  "float  with  the  tide,"  but  it  takes  courage, 
ability  and  unceasing  industry  to  pull  against  the  stream.  In  these 
degenerate  times,  when  the  book-stands  and  the  publishing- houses  are 
jammed  with  a  class  of  literature  that  can  only  be  characterized  as  abomin- 
able "rot,"  it  is  refreshing  to  find  one  man  who  has  the  courage  to 
publish  reform  works.  The  man  thus  alluded  to  is  F.  J.  Schulte,  of  the 
Schulte  Publishing  Company,  Chicago.  At  the  risk  of  being  ostracised  by 
the  aristocrats  of  the  business  world  (for  there  is  an  aristocracy  in  business 
as  well  as  in  society)  he  has  made  a  specialty  of  publishing  what  are  known 
as  reform  works.  Contrary,  however,  to  the  general  rule  in  such  cases, 
Mr.  Schulte  has  made  a  remarkable  success  of  his  business  venture.  He  has 
published  some  of  the  best-selling  books  ever  put  upon  the  market.  We 
congratulate  him  and  congratulate  the  reform  movement  on  his  good  work, 
and  hope  it  will  continue. — S.  F.  NORTON  (1891). 

Any  book  on  this  list  will  be  sent  postpaid,  or  delivered  by  our 
representatives,  to  any  address  on  receipt  of  price. ..  .Special 
discounts  in  quantities  to  Agents,  Speakers,  Campaign  Com- 
mittees and  Reform  Workers  generally 

THE  SCBtULTE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
323-325  Dearborn  Street  CHICAGO 

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